Parents clashing with teachers more since Covid

Schools are experiencing more conflict with parents over their children’s behaviour since the Covid pandemic, a public inquiry has heard.

The Scottish Covid Inquiry is being told about the impact of the pandemic on all levels of education.

The body representing school leaders said its members had reported a rise in parents simply not accepting their children were behaving badly since the pandemic.

School Leaders Scotland (SLS) suggested that some parents were taking “the path of least resistance” with their kids.

The inquiry started its hearings last year and has already covered the impact of the pandemic on people using health and social care services.

It is now hearing from people on the frontline of education.

Graham Hutton, general secretary for the SLS and a former head teacher in Dundee, told the inquiry that pupil behaviour and attendance problems had been one of the “hidden consequences” of the pandemic.

Mr Hutton said: “What I’m hearing from my colleagues is there has been a rise in the amount of arguments they are having with parents which they probably wouldn’t have had in the past.”

Mr Hutton said scenarios where parents were “absolutely adamant that their child is right even when evidence is put to them” were now more common.

He added: “In many ways it looks to us as if they take the path of least resistance.

“They have maybe not been able to deal appropriately with young people when they have been off school and therefore they have allowed young people to do as they wish or been rather weak with setting parameters.”

Scotland’s schools faced years of disruption during the Covid pandemic, including full and partial closures, home learning and major changes to the way pupils were assessed.

Mr Hutton said: “The pandemic did have negative impact right across the board, we were not prepared for it. In many ways we were fumbling around in the dark to make sure we did the best by our young people.”

The SLS claimed the Covid pandemic had proved that the current way Scotland’s schools are arranged and pupils tested is no longer fit for purpose and requires major changes.

Inquiry chairman Lord Brailsford described these arguments as “forceful and potent” and said they would be considered by the investigation he is leading.

Earlier the inquiry had heard how the pandemic impacted higher and further education.

Matt Crilly, who was the National Union of Students of Scotland president from July 2020 to June 2022, said fears over missing out on income from international student fees was a driver behind reopening Scotland’s universities during the pandemic.

He said: “The highest single source of income for many of our universities comes from international students and my understanding at that time is that there was a fear that (if) learning was to be delivered exclusively or predominately online… many international students may not want to enrol on a £20,000 a year fee-paying course.”

Mr Crilly added that at this time there had been a “breakdown of trust” in those in authority by students who felt they had been told to attend in person only to find themselves in “semi-official lockdown”.

He added that students in this position felt “isolated from the rest of society”.

He told the inquiry: “Essentially, they felt like they were being seen as the cause of the pandemic and the cause of the virus spreading.

“They felt that they were being judged because of that, despite the fact that they were told that they had to be there, and they had to arrive on campus to take part in their education.”

The inquiry also heard how many higher and further education students didn’t have their own computers to be able to access learning online when face-to-face teaching was again suspended.

This included one example of a student trying to write a dissertation on their mobile phone.

The inquiry before Lord Brailsford continues.