The coronavirus pandemic has had a “damaging impact” on Scotland’s further education colleges, the general secretary of the union representing teaching staff in FE has said.
Larry Flanagan’s comments come as a survey of FE lecturers by the EIS, carried out in June, highlights their concern of how both the learning experience and the wellbeing of students and staff were affected by lockdown.
In the survey, to which 2,000 lecturers across the country’s 26 FE colleges responded, more than two-thirds of lecturers cited physical and mental health issues among learners as a barrier to engaging with online learning. Many also expressed concern about learner wellbeing during lockdown and resources to support this.
This was particularly the case for learners already vulnerable pre-lockdown, including ESOL, ASN and care-experienced cohorts.
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Barriers to learning
Access to equipment and challenging home circumstances were also listed as barriers frequently. With colleges looking to introduce a blended learning model for most students next term - combining online and face-to-face delivery - the EIS says it is concerned about how these barriers will be overcome.
Looking ahead to the new academic year, a quarter of lecturers cited poor communication and/or unrealistic expectations from managers for 2020-21.
A third of staff said that they were either somewhat or very unconfident about increased use of online learning in the coming academic year - only 13 per cent said they were very confident.
With many plans for the delivery of learning next term still to be confirmed at the time of the survey, many staff were concerned about what provision would look like. Three-quarters of respondents had concerns about the ability to implement social distancing in classrooms and vocational workspaces, the ability to deliver all aspects of the curriculum (71 per cent) and retention of learners (73 per cent).
Face coverings and social distancing
Yesterday, the Scottish government announced that from Monday, face coverings would become mandatory in corridors and communal areas in Scottish secondary schools. The Scottish government told Tes that although this updated guidance on face coverings applied to schools only, it was in discussions with colleges and universities “in terms of what this means for them”.
EIS-FELA has said that it would like to see face coverings made mandatory in college classrooms where distancing is not possible, as well as in communal college areas.
EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: “These survey findings illustrate the damaging impact of Covid-19 on our further education colleges. The mass move to online and remote learning brought significant challenges for lecturers and students alike, with implications for workload, mental and physical wellbeing and work/life balance.”
He added: “Lecturers have expressed significant concerns about the ongoing impact on students, particularly those from less affluent backgrounds who might not have access to the types of IT facilities that are required to support a prolonged period of remote home learning. There are also very serious concerns about students living in challenging home circumstances, and the potentially damaging impact of the loss of a safe space in college in which to study. Students with additional support needs, or those facing mental health or emotional issues, were also identified as groups most likely to have suffered significant disadvantage during this period.”
Mr Flanagan said the survey had highlighted “many issues that remain to be addressed by colleges across Scotland”. “With many colleges looking at a model based largely on remote and online learning for the rest of the year, action must be taken quickly to overcome these challenges to ensure that lecturers can offer all students proper support in their ongoing studies.”
A Colleges Scotland spokesperson said: “The college sector has been working very closely with trade unions, the Scottish government and its agencies to ensure that the return to campuses is done as safely as possible. Some appropriate staff members have been back working in campuses for some time, making the necessary preparations for the safe return of students and other staff in line with the latest Scottish government and Public Health Scotland advice, which has allowed onsite skills tests to operate effectively and safely in recent days.
“Colleges will continue to engage with trade unions and members of staff to make the approach of blended online and onsite learning for students as successful as it can be throughout this new academic year. Although the practical implications of Covid-19 certainly present challenges to the sector, colleges and their staff have shown remarkable resilience and flexibility in continuing to successfully deliver learning throughout the pandemic.”
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “We are grateful for the hard work of college and university staff and we appreciate the flexibility they have shown in moving swiftly to remote learning during lockdown as we all try and adapt to an unprecedented health emergency. We continue to work with the further and higher education sectors and we are investing an additional £5 million to help bridge the digital divide for students.”
