Education secretary Jenny Gilruth has committed to reviewing government guidance on education for sick children, after hearing of a private-school pupil diagnosed with leukaemia being charged £115 an hour to access hospital-based education services.
Conservative MSP Craig Hoy called on the Scottish government to “urgently” look at its guidance, “to ensure universal access to education for all sick children, regardless of where they are normally educated”, after raising the case of one pupil affected by the issue.
Mr Hoy said the child had been diagnosed with leukaemia in March and was not expected to return to school until the autumn, but was being “denied access to education” at the Royal Hospital for Children & Young People in Edinburgh unless the family paid £115 an hour for teaching because he attends a private school.
Accusation of discrimination
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament yesterday, Mr Hoy accused the City of Edinburgh Council of discrimination and questioned how the policy could be compliant with Getting It Right for Every Child - the government’s framework for supporting children’s wellbeing - or the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was incorporated into Scots law last year.
Mr Hoy added that private school parents “already pay tax towards the state education they do not use”.
The Scottish Council of Independent Schools is also calling for “a more compassionate approach” towards seriously ill children in hospital.
Lorraine Davidson, SCIS chief executive, told Tes Scotland that the government’s guidance should be updated so that pupils coping with serious illness “receive equal access to hospital education services”, regardless of where they go to school.
In response, James Dalgleish, the City of Edinburgh Council’s education, children and families convener, said that education provision for ill children attending independent schools would normally be arranged by the school, which was “in line with Scottish government guidance”.
“This ensures consistency of learning and approach for the child or young person,” he said.
Nevertheless, Mr Dalgleish acknowledged the “added strain” the policy was putting on families. He committed to reviewing council “procedures around this issue”, adding: “Given the importance of this issue, we will also make contact with colleagues within the Scottish government to ask if they intend to review the guidance sent to Scottish councils.”
Education secretary will ‘engage’ with issue
In the Scottish Parliament yesterday, Ms Gilruth said the current guidance did not make reference to independent schools and charging, but she planned to “engage further” and “reflect” on its content. She said her officials had already engaged with City of Edinburgh Council.
The on educating children who are too sick to attend school dates back to 2015.
It states: “In circumstances where a pupil at an independent school becomes unable to attend the school due to ill health, arrangements are normally made by the parent and independent school for that pupil to continue to receive education otherwise than through the child‘s attendance at the school.”
Where a child ceases to be enrolled with an independent school - because, for example, they are absent for a long period - the guidance says they “may wish to contact the home education authority to seek support in assessment of the pupil‘s learning and health needs and provision of education”.
The Royal Hospital for Children and Young People (RHCYP) website has a that states: “The responsibility for arrangements for education lie with a child or young person’s home school/local authority”.
It also says that the hospital has a small team of teachers employed by the City of Edinburgh Council who can teach primary and secondary pupils “if their school makes a referral for support”.
The website adds that, if the child’s education is not provided by the City of Edinburgh Council, charges will apply “and the home school/local authority will fund this”.
One-to-one hospital teaching costs £115.78 an hour; small-class hospital teaching is £45.41 per hour.
For the latest in Scottish education delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for Tes’ The Week in Scotland newsletter
