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The government has refused to commit to having schools open even after the Easter holidays, increasing the likelihood that parents will have many more weeks of homeschooling before even the gradual return of most children. students to the classroom in England.
A senior government source warned that although the data was beginning to show signs of a slowdown in infections, rates were not falling as sharply as expected. The source said the outlook had become “more pessimistic” over the past week on the government’s ability to ease any measure in the short term.
Discussions are taking place in the Department of Education to decide which students could be prioritized, with the first years and those facing exams in the summer among those who could return first. Attendance shifts could also be introduced to keep school numbers low, but allow for more face-to-face teaching.
The president of the select committee on education expressed his dismay at the delay and urged ministers to put “the whole engine of the state” on to pave the way for schools to reopen.
Covid case rate in the UK
Robert Halfon said parents would be alarmed by the latest indications, especially given the progress made by the vaccination program.
“The entire state engine must do everything it can to get our schools to open after midterm as originally proposed,” he told The Guardian. “If it means priority vaccinations for teachers and support staff, then it is worth it because despite the efforts of individual teachers and support staff who are doing their best, we are facing an epidemic of mental health problems. and educational poverty.
“This is putting enormous pressure on parents and families, many of whom have to give up their livelihoods to care for their children at home. With all the laptops in the world, you still need parental motivation and when they are working it is very difficult, especially with younger children. “
Geoff Barton, secretary general of the Association of School and College Leaders, said reports that children will not return to school until after Easter do not reflect the discussions he had been having with the government. “At a time when we are concerned about the mental health of young people, the last thing we need now is for no one to go back to school until after Easter,” he said.
Conservative MPs hope to increase pressure this week for ministers to devise a clear roadmap to ease restrictions once most of the most vulnerable have received their first doses of the vaccine in early March. Former Minister Steve Baker, a leading figure in the Covid Recovery Group of MPs, said public compliance could not be waited indefinitely with no hope in sight.
Downing Street and the Department of Education are expected to examine the data next week before rendering a judgment, with an option that includes a limited phased return of some students.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, who has said schools will receive a minimum of two weeks’ notice to plan for the return of students, hopes to provide teachers and parents with an update on the roadmap for the back from schools this week.
However, it is now believed that most students will not return until at least Easter, despite previous aspirations from the government that schools can begin allowing students to return from the February semester.
The latest government figures for the UK vaccine program launch showed another record day, with 491,970 people receiving their first dose, bringing the total to more than 6.3 million. Another 610 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Sunday, bringing the UK total to 97,939.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News that any easing of lockdown restrictions was a “long, long, long road” and said the UK was still in dire straits. “You can see the pressure on the NHS, you can see it every day.”
Hancock declined to commit in mid-February or after Easter as a point for schools to fully reopen to all students.
“We are very clear that we want schools to be as safe as we can again, but we have to monitor the data,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr program.
“Of course I hope that the schools will come back after Easter and that the vaccination program will go fast. But we have to make sure we eliminate the cases and we have to protect the country from new variants coming from abroad. “
Baker, who is vice president of the CRG, who has previously led parliamentary rebellions against the closure measures, said: “Covid causes death and serious harm and we must control it, but these closures, restrictions and school closures are causing incalculable damage to the health of people, livelihoods and prospects “.
He said that the four main risk groups should have immunity before March 8 and at that time “the government should begin to relax the restrictions in a safe and proportionate way. But the public needs to hear today what the plan is to ease the restrictions. “
Baker said that “it is not enough to wait for the public compliance with prolonged severe measures, without giving some hope and showing some optimism and light at the end of this very dark tunnel.”
A source from the Department of Education said Williamson wanted the students “to return as soon as possible,” but did not deny that a delay was possible until after Easter.
Williamson said last Thursday that he would “certainly hope” that schools could reopen before Easter, although those comments were not backed by the prime minister’s spokesman, who said he would be guided by the data.
About 14% of students, who are vulnerable or children of key workers, already attend school. The numbers could be piled up gradually, and the youngest will be considered a high priority to return to class, as well as those who have been preparing to take GCSE and A-Level this year. The entire series of exams has been canceled and exam regulator Ofqual is now consulting on how students will be assessed.
