Covid-19: Gove ‘confident’ schools can reopen in England
Gove #Gove
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]]> Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has said he is “confident” the staggered return to secondary schools in England can go ahead as planned.
But Mr Gove said the issue was still being reviewed, amid concern over the spread of the new coronavirus variant.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have already delayed or revised plans for pupils’ return to the classroom.
Earlier this month, the government said exam year students in England would go back as normal after Christmas.
But the majority of secondary school pupils in England are due to begin the term studying remotely, to give head teachers time to implement a coronavirus testing programme for students and staff.
Mr Gove told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he still expected Year 11 and Year 13 pupils to return in the first week of January, with the rest going back to the classroom later in the month.
“It is our intention to make sure we can get children back to school as early as possible,” he said.
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He said that prioritising children’s attendance in school was “the right thing to do” but he acknowledged concerns about the new variant, which scientists believe may be more transmissible.
“We have a new strain and it is also the case that we have also had, albeit in a very limited way, Christmas mixing, so we do have to remain vigilant,” Mr Gove said.
“We are confident that we will be able to get schools back in good order. Our plan and our timetable is there, and we are working with teachers to deliver it.”
Mr Gove told BBC Breakfast the safe return to school would be built on an effective testing system, with teachers working “incredibly hard” to implement it.
Mark Tilling, head teacher of High Tunstall College of Science in Hartlepool, told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One that he needed to train 21 staff to carry out the mass testing, which would take at least a week from the start of term.
He said: “The key issue for me is, is it safe to open if we can’t do mass testing? If it isn’t then the government need to make a decision that we can’t open.”
Although there is no suggestion the new variant poses more of a threat to children’s health, scientists are investigating whether it spreads more easily in children.
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]]> How are the UK nations returning to school?
Schools in all the UK nations are remaining open for vulnerable children. England, Wales and Scotland have also committed to maintain face-to-face teaching for children of key workers.
Preliminary research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine suggested that schools and universities might need to close on top of existing tier 4 restrictions to bring the new variant under control.
Labour’s shadow education secretary Kate Green said the government did not have a clear strategy and was not acting quickly enough.
“Parents will be extremely concerned that all they’re getting is rumour and innuendo. Teachers and school staff will need to know what is expected of them,” she said.
Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, told the Today programme the country faced “very, very tough choices” over schools.
He said that while schools were an “absolute priority”, there would be a “trade-off” that could mean other parts of society had to stay closed.
The UK faced “continued pressures” from the spread of Covid-19 for at least the next two or three months, Sir Jeremy said.
Teachers’ union the NASUWT has written to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson calling for him to allow schools in the highest tier areas to teach online, except for vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers.
The National Education Union has previously suggested the government should allow schools to hold more classes online for the first two weeks of January to give time for the infection rate to fall.
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