[ad_1]
There is mounting pressure on the government to delay the return of millions of children to school next week, as teacher unions and experts continue to call for caution about the safety of staff and students.
Amid a worsening pandemic and growing concern over the new strain of Covid-19 spreading from London and the South East, education unions have asked the government for more clarity on why to send children back to schools. classrooms will not put them at risk.
They call for more effective tests to be introduced and a better strategy established before going ahead with plans. It comes at a time when there is debate within the government about the risk of a sudden increase in infections, as ministers are understood to be divided by the announcement of the secretary of education, Gavin Williamson, on a gradual return for students .
The pressure mounted when NHS England said it had a record 20,426 people in the hospital being treated for Covid-19 at 8am Monday, topping the April peak of 18,946. Health officials in Wales and Scotland have also said they fear being overwhelmed.
A prominent social scientist said the new strain of Covid-19 “changed the game” in terms of reopening schools. Dr. Zubaida Haque, former deputy director of the Runnymede Trust racial equality think tank, said: “The key question is, are schools safe enough right now? Has the government made schools safer, and by doing so can we keep schools open? “
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, he said: “Right now we have a critical situation: yesterday we had the highest number of daily cases of Covid, more than 41,000 cases of coronavirus in this country.
“By Christmas Day we had more people in hospitals than at the peak of April this year, so now we are in a crisis situation.”
He added: “The government has delayed the opening of parliament because we are in a crisis situation, but yesterday we had Michael Gove saying, ‘No, it’s okay, we are going to have schools open next week and we will have a staggered return.’ And frankly, that’s not acceptable and it’s not safe. “
The director of the Association of School and University Leaders (ASCL) called for a “more adult” debate on the plans. Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Geoff Barton said: “This doesn’t have to be binary, it doesn’t have to be all young people in school or not in school.
“I would say that the people who know their communities best, the people who best know the facilities that young people have in their homes, whether it’s IT or books, are the school leaders or the teachers.”
The union leader added: “What we could be doing is reducing the number of young people in schools while we do those tests, making sure to focus on those young people that we need to have in school, trusting that others do not. To be in school.
“Why don’t we have a more nuanced debate on this? A more grown-up attitude, and why don’t we trust our school and college leaders who, frankly, their local communities are looking for real leadership? “
Steve Chalke, the founder of Oasis, one of England’s largest multi-academy trusts, told BBC Radio 4’s Today show: “We ask the government to pause to come up with a clear strategy for the continuity of education. We think that means a little delay to think things over.
“We suggest a delay of a week or two to think it through, to get it right, and we think that if you really care about children you would do it right, invest now, allow time now makes sense.”
Barton said the ASCL union supported the gradual opening of schools with a testing system already in place, established with the support of the health services and the military.
He told BBC Breakfast: “What that would allow then would be the gradual introduction of children starting next week and that we are not defensive in implementing something that we have not heard of until the day before the day before. of Christmas, but able to do it in a planned way.
“Those people who ask for a delay so that the young people return [to school] we are doing it on the principle that we must do these tests correctly and we must listen to what the scientists are saying. “
