Only elementary school children and ages 11 and 13 will return to class on January 4, as some students can stay home until FEBRUARY

ONLY primary school children and Year 11 and 13 students will return to class on January 4, but some students could stay home until February according to Covid plans.

Today, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said the government is still determined to stagger the reopening of schools as planned, but warned of “compensation.”

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He told Times Radio: “We keep things under review, and we will talk to principals and teachers in the next 24, 48 hours just to make sure our plans … are really solid.”

He said: “Our intention is to make sure that we can get the children back to school as soon as possible. But we all know that there are compensations.

“As a country, we have decided, and I think this is the right thing to do, that we prioritize getting children back to school.

“But we have a new strain and it is also the case that we have also had, albeit to a very limited extent, Christmas mixes, so we have to stay tuned.”

Gove said the current plan was for elementary school students, GCSE and A-level students and children of key workers to return to school next week, with other high school students to return the following week.

But he cautioned that this could be changed amid revisions, with longer periods of mandatory online learning as a possibility.

According to the Mail, Gove and Health Secretary Matt Hancock are now leaning toward delays until the next term, but Boris Johnson is not interested in the plan.

The prime minister met with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, who wants the children back in the classroom in January.

But government scientists and other members of the cabinet are in favor of extended closures, and schools will remain closed until February as an option.

Before the meeting, Mr. Gove said: “We are confident that we will be able to get the schools back in good shape.

“Our plan and our schedule are there, and we are working with teachers to meet them.”

Although about 1,500 military personnel will be hired to provide training support for testing personnel and students, some principals have complained about a lack of resources to perform swabs, reports the Mail.

Last week, scientists warned Johnson that he should keep high schools closed in January, with the possibility of a nationwide shutdown, Politico reports.

SCHOOLS INSIDE OR OUTSIDE?

SAGE, which advises on the pandemic, told the prime minister that the R rate could remain below 1 if schools remain closed, with secondary schools being the key to achieving this.

Last week, Professor Neil Ferguson told the Commons Science and Technology Committee that the new strain of coronavirus is “now everywhere.”

He said: “Schools are now closed, we are in a near lockdown situation across the country. Contact rates are lower during Christmas.”

Experts have suggested that children could spread the disease faster, and various government figures previously indicated that schools could remain closed throughout January.

Teachers are expected to move up the holiday list when the Oxford jab is passed this week.

The National Education Union has previously said that the government should allow schools to move classes online for most students for fifteen days in January to allow Covid-19 cases to decline.

A Whitehall source said that the total closure of schools in the “stay-at-home” areas was “on the table, but it was a long way from being implemented.”

‘CIRCUIT BREAKER’

Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, has written to Mr. Williamson calling for schools to remain closed following the latest scientific advice on the new strain.

The letter calls on Mr. Williamson to allow schools to transition to remote learning for all students, except those deemed vulnerable or the children of key workers, in higher-level areas.

“It is increasingly clear that the Covid safety advice that it has previously issued to the sector may no longer be sufficient, especially since it does not take into account the new risks posed by schools and universities,” he wrote.

Labor’s shadow education secretary, Kate Green, has also called on the prime minister to hold a press conference to keep students out of limbo.

She said: “The work has made it clear that keeping students learning must be a national priority, but a litany of government failures, from a lack of funding for security measures to the delayed and chaotic announcement of mass tests, is putting the education of at-risk youth.

“It is time for the Prime Minister to control the situation and show some leadership.”

But parliamentarians and experts have urged the government to reopen schools for the well-being of students.

‘EDUCATIONAL POVERTY’

Conservative MP Robert Halfon, chairman of the Commons Education Committee, said children would be plunged into an “epidemic of educational poverty” if schools remained closed.

“We have to be very careful what we are doing to our young children,” he told BBC Radio 4 PM.

“Of course we worry about the coronavirus, but we don’t want an epidemic of educational poverty at the same time.

“What has to happen is volunteers, maybe the military, maybe mobile units outside of schools or on school playgrounds, making sure students and teaching staff are screened and also implementing vaccines as a priority for everyone in the schools.

“It should be our priority to keep our children in schools so that our children continue to learn.”

Of course we worry about the coronavirus, but we don’t want an epidemic of educational poverty at the same time.

Robert Halfon MPChairman of the Commons Education Committee

Adam Finn, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Bristol, also told Radio 4’s World at One: “Maintaining some form of education should be a priority for all of us, not just for the education and social development of children, but in some cases, for their safety and nutrition. “

Molly Kingsley of the parent campaign group Us For Them said on Twitter: “Closing schools a second time given what we know of the damage it would do would be nothing short of criminal.”

Other experts have pointed to the long-term “healing” effects of school closings and the impact on children’s mental health.

Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, told the Mail: “Closing schools is the worst thing we can do for the future life prospects of students, particularly the poorest children.

“Any decision to deny schooling to students should not underestimate the long-term effects of scarring.”

Chris McGovern, president of the Campaign for Real Education, told the newspaper: “Millions of children are suffering damage both in terms of mental health and academic performance.

“We can’t deprive children anymore. We are not talking about closing hospitals, so we shouldn’t talk about closing schools either.”

Williamson is said to have privately expressed concern that Covid’s so-called “doves” in government, who are more in favor of the restrictions, could give in to mounting pressure to close schools.

A source told the Sunday Telegraph: “Gavin is trying to keep them open, so he released the tests early.

“He is facing a huge battle. It is against the confinements that he is fighting.”

At a press conference in Downing Street last week, Johnson said he wanted to stick to the current plan of a phased start of schools in January “if possible.”

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