Confusion when Covid hotspots Greenwich, Hackney and Haringey left the list of elementary school closings

Around a million primary school pupils in the parts of England hardest hit by Covid-19 will not return to their desks as planned next week, in an attempt to curb rising infection rates and the spread of the new variant of the virus. coronavirus in the UK.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told MPs in the Commons that elementary schools in a “small number of areas” will not reopen for face-to-face teaching at the beginning of the new term as originally expected.

The Department of Education (DfE) published on Wednesday night a list of the 50 areas where primary schools are expected to remain closed to almost all pupils, with locations in London, Essex, Kent, East Sussex, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire.

However, several of the capital’s Covid hotspots were not included, prompting widespread consternation.

Council leader Dan Thorpe wrote on Twitter in response: “As the leader of the (Greenwich council), I am extremely concerned that we have been excluded. We are trying to find out from @educationgovuk what data has prompted this decision, as our infection rates are higher than in some districts that do not return. “

Thorpe later said in a statement: “In a case-by-case comparison, there seems to be no logic in how this list was put together.

“Kensington and Chelsea have one of the lowest infection rates in the entire capital, yet their children and youth receive the added protection that Royal Greenwich students apparently do not need.

“While we are very pleased that they will benefit from these additional precautions, we can only speculate why this municipality was included, but with an infection rate of more than 200 cases per 100,000, Royal Greenwich was not.

“We wrote to the Secretary of State tonight to ask for a clarification of the selection criteria, but we understand that one of them could be pressure from the hospital. With Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich declaring an internal incident this week, and also serving the neighboring Bexley district, which is on the list, we need to understand why Royal Greenwich is being treated differently than other districts that appear to be in positions a lot. stronger. . “

Shadow Justice Minister and Tottenham MP David Lammy echoed their concerns in a Twitter post, writing: “Struggling to understand Gavin Williamson’s logic in leaving Haringey Council off the list of areas for delayed school openings.

“Our infection levels are higher than in other London boroughs included and no one consulted locally. It’s about life or death. This needs an urgent review. “

Haringey recorded 838.6 new cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to Dec. 26, compared with somewhere like Westminster, which recorded 489.4 and is on the government’s school closure list.

Meanwhile, Labor MP Stella Creasy noted: “Walthamstow children go to school in Redbridge, Islington and Haringey. Today’s panel shows Redbridge with a 504 positive test rate, Islington 303 and Haringey 407. You can find both in white with Waltham Forest (356 positive cases) in pink in between … “

Redbridge Council Leader Jas Athwal confirmed that the municipality had been initially delisted in error, but was later added.

He tweeted: “It appears that removing Redbridge from the list was yet another in a long list of recent mistakes made by our government.

“Redbridge Elementary Schools will not open on Monday, January 4.”

The Standard has contacted the Department of Education for comment.

The phased approach to reopening schools was to have primary pupils and Year 11 and 13 pupils return in the first week of January, and others would return later in the month to allow principals to implement mass testing of children and personal.

However, the Secretary of Education announced that the return of high school students would also have to be delayed, as he said that an “immediate adjustment” should be made to the plans for the return of the new year.

Williamson said students in exam years will return to high schools one week later than planned, starting Jan. 11, while other high school and college students will return full-time on Jan. 18.

Children of key workers and vulnerable youth will still be able to attend lessons in elementary and secondary schools, Williamson said.

Shadow’s Minister of Education and Universities Emma Hardy said it was a “disaster” that a list of schools had not been provided along with the Secretary of Education’s statement. However, this became available later.

There has been growing concern from teaching unions and scientists about the spread of the virus following the discovery of a more communicable variant, with case rates and hospital admissions on the rise in many parts of the country.

Williamson said: “We must always act quickly when circumstances change. The evidence on the new variant of Covid and the increase in infection rates have required an immediate adjustment in our plans for the new period.

“The latest study we have from Public Health England is that Covid infections among children are caused by changes in the community rate. The study also says that the broader impact of school closings on children’s development would be significant.

“I am very clear that we must continue to do everything possible so that children continue in school.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Heads of Teachers (NAHT), described the announcement as “another last-minute mess that could have been so easily avoided” if the government had listened to school leaders before the Christmas break.

He said: “Instead, back then, schools that wanted to switch to remote learning were threatened with legal action. Now we have a situation where the government is instructing schools to reduce the amount of teaching time available.

“If we had the freedom to act before the holidays, we could have been in a position to have more schools open for more students. School leaders will be puzzled, frustrated and justifiably angry tonight. “

Williamson said the government expects to deliver 50,000 devices to schools across the country on January 4 to support remote and online learning, adding that 100,000 devices will be delivered during the first week of the quarter.

Geoff Barton, secretary general of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the decision to delay face-to-face teaching for high school students is not “surprising”, adding that there is a “difficult balancing act” between keeping education fully open and suppress the virus “It has clearly turned in the direction of addressing the immediate public health crisis.”

But he said concerns remain about the “huge logistical challenge” of hiring and training staff to run mass testing centers for high schools and universities.

Mr. Barton, who said the government “has made a habit of chaotic last minute announcements leaving schools and universities picking up the pieces,” said support for mass testing remains insufficient and that discussions with ministers and officials will continue.

Laying out new plans for the return of pupils to secondary schools, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “In secondary schools, all vulnerable children and children of critical workers will return to England next week as originally planned, but We will ask the high school exam year students to learn remotely during the first week of the course and return to the classroom from January 11th.

“The rest of the secondary school students, the groups without exam, will return a week later, that is to say, from January 18.”

He suggested that these plans could change again depending on infection rates, adding: “I want to emphasize that depending on the spread of the disease, further action may need to be taken in their cases, as well as in the most affected areas.”

Universities are also being asked to reduce the number of students returning to campus from the beginning of next month, Williamson told MPs, adding that priority should be given to students who need hands-on learning to earn their professional qualifications.

He said all college students should be offered two rapid coronavirus tests upon their return to campus.