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The Prime Minister has defended the decision to allow schools in Wales to gradually return to teaching starting next week, following criticism from teachers’ unions.
Mark Drakeford said the decision by the Welsh Government to allow a flexible approach to face-to-face learning after the Christmas holidays is the best way to ensure a “safe return”.
Many schools in Wales are aiming to return to face-to-face learning as of January 11, while some are still planning to fully open from this Wednesday (January 6).
Earlier this week, the Association of School and University Leaders (ASCL) Cymru held a meeting with ministers in which they called on the Government of Wales to make a national decision on when all schools will reopen.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the NASUWT teachers union warned that action could be taken because “it is now very clear that the pandemic is seriously affecting the ability of all schools to continue to function normally.”
(Image: Matthew Horwood)
Union Secretary General Dr. Patrick Roach said NASUWT’s view is that “schools and other settings should only remain open to all students where it is safe for them,” adding that “they will not hesitate to take action. in order to protect members whose safety is put at risk as a result of the failure of employers or the Welsh government to ensure safe working conditions in schools. “
On Sunday morning, Laura Doel, director of the school leaders union NAHT Cymru, joined the criticism.
Ms Doel said: “We believe it is wrong to keep people in danger while the implications of the new variant of the virus are still being discovered.
“The information currently available does not contain strong scientific evidence on the impact of the new variant in schools. In particular, there is nothing that describes the risks to students and teachers of maintaining in-person enrollment.”
But Drakeford defended the measure Sunday morning.
Speaking on BBC Radio Wales, he said: “We have come to an agreement with our local educational colleagues that in Wales we will have a gradual and flexible back to school.
“That means that during the first two weeks there will be flexibility for local authorities and principals to assess the situation in their individual contexts, to see how many teachers have been affected by the virus, for example, and then to graduate the return of some. So that’s for sure but it also continues to prioritize the needs of our young people whose lives have been so disrupted. “
When asked directly whether the Welsh government should take a nationwide approach to reopening schools, rather than leaving decisions to individual councils, the Prime Minister said: “There is no evidence that young people contract the disease from more severely as a result of the (new) variant.
“Our technical advisory group will re-examine all the evidence early next week and of course we will continue to make decisions in light of the best knowledge, research and information available to us at that time.
“But as a government we will not lose sight of the fact that we have a generation of young people here in Wales whose lives have been so disrupted in 2020, whose education needs to get back on track and it is their needs that we will continue to keep in our minds as we organize. with our colleagues a safe return to school. “
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Drakeford added that the Welsh government was “sure” that the new variant is transmitted between people “much faster”, but that they still have no evidence of how that happens in classrooms. He also said that the evidence shows that the coronavirus is not transmitted within classrooms, but that it can be transmitted “in the things that happen at school, the way people live their lives in general.”
He also said there is no evidence that teachers are more exposed to Covid-19 than any other group within the community or that children are at higher risk, but acknowledged that “evidence is developing.”
Drakeford confirmed that the mass testing process in schools in Wales will begin as planned in January.
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