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All primary and secondary schools have closed, after England went into a third national lockdown.
The prime minister said schools must offer remote learning until at least mid-February and the GCSE and A-level exams face cancellation for a second year.
Only vulnerable children and children of key workers will be able to attend schools for face-to-face learning, and early childhood settings, such as day care centers, will remain accessible.
Boris Johnson said the new measures were necessary: ”because we have to do everything possible to stop the spread of the disease.”
However, Johnson remains “very cautious” about the timing, and the restrictions were lifted as a “gradual unraveling.”
Those eligible for free school meals will continue to receive them during the closures, and more devices will be distributed to aid remote learning, according to Johnson.
The government had insisted that schools would remain open for just one day before the new measures were announced, assuring parents that it was “safe” to send their children back for the start of the term on January 4.
But the move sparked a backlash from four national teacher unions, who called for the observed delay in London to be applied to all schools in England amid concerns that the new strain of Covid-19 poses a threat to teachers.
Anne Longfield, England’s commissioner for children, has called for teachers to get vaccinated “as a priority.”
The Telegraph reported on January 9 that education experts warned Britain needed to massively expand its army of tutors to avoid long-term economic damage from Covid-19 due to learning loss.
What are the rules for the children of key workers and vulnerable children?
The Department of Education (DfE) said that children with at least one parent or caregiver who was a critical worker could attend class, even if the parents worked from home.
It came after concerns about Covid-19 transmission risks were raised amid reports that more than half of students were present in some elementary schools.
A DfE spokesperson said: “Schools are open to vulnerable children and the children of critical workers. We expect schools to work with families to ensure that all critical child workers have access to a place if necessary.”
“If critical workers can work from home and take care of their children at the same time, then they should, but otherwise this provision is in place to allow them to provide vital services.
The DfE also said schools were expected to “strongly encourage” vulnerable children to attend classes.
Vulnerable children could include “students who may find it difficult to participate in distance education at home” due to a lack of devices or a quiet space to study, according to the council.
But the government guide says that parents who choose to keep their children out of class will not be penalized.
What do the levels mean for schools?
The new closure measures mean that the entire country will be subjected to the same tougher measures, including the closure of all schools. This means that the tier system is not currently implemented.
All schools had been ordered to draw up plans to ensure that children continue to receive education even if they have to stay at home.
Johnson said of the school closure announcement: “I want to emphasize that the problem is not that schools are not safe for children.
“The problem is, however, schools can act as transmission vectors, causing the virus to spread between homes.”
Read more about the tier system above:
When will high schools reopen?
All schools will be closed until mid-February, with the possibility of these measures being extended further.
This means that most high school students will stay home until at least the February semester.
Are there any changes to the exams?
Gavin Williamson, the Secretary of Education, announced on January 6 that the GCSE, A-Level and AS exams will not be held this summer.
The tests will be replaced by teacher evaluations, and Williamson said the government “will place our trust in teachers, rather than algorithms.” The Secretary of Education has also stated that the Department of Education and Ofqual had already developed a number of options.
Details are currently being fine-tuned, but it will be a “form of teacher-assessed grades, with training and support provided to ensure they are awarded fairly and consistently across the country.”
How will testing work in schools?
The Government had previously established a plan for each secondary school to screen as many students and staff as possible when they reopened.
It is not yet clear whether schools will still need to mass test students after the latest school closings have ended.
The plans called for secondary schools to hire 40,000 volunteers to carry out mass tests on their students, according to government documents.
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