By Gavin Mackintosh-
The British government has today said it won’t bow intense pressure to keep all schools in England closed for two weeks after the Christmas break amid a surge in coronavirus cases.
Teaching unions have told primary school staff it is unsafe to return to work, and called for remote learning. but The Department Of Education told The Eye Of Media.Com there will be no U turn n their official position.
Most primary schools in England are expected to open on Monday while secondary schools will reopen on a staggered basis, with exam year pupils returning on 11 January and others returning a week later.
Although Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, announced that all of London’s primaries would remain shut on Monday – reversing a decision to keep only schools in certain boroughs closed.
He said the closures were a last resort in the face of a fast-moving situation.
But unions said extending this across the nation was “the only sensible and credible option”.
The UK’s largest education union, the National Education Union (NEU) appeared to overrule the government’s position by saying that all primary and secondary schools should remain closed for a further two weeks after the school holiday, adding it was advising members against working in school.
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) called for all schools to move to home learning for a “brief and determined period for most children”, and said it would issue guidance to head teachers recommending they take no action against staff who refused to return to work if they felt unsafe.
In a letter to the education secretary, the NASUWT called for an “immediate nationwide move to remote education” as the “only sensible and credible option” to minimise risk, while the GMB, which represents support staff, called on Mr Williamson to apply “common sense”.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said the government had “made an utter shambles” of the school return plans.
The ASCL and the NAHT have started legal action to get the Department for Education to share any information showing “why they think it is safe to reopen schools on Monday, given the higher transmissibility of the new Covid-19 variant”.
Dr Mary Bousted, joint head of the NEU which has more than 450,000 members, said that if the government did not “take the right steps” it would be informing its members of their “legal right to refuse to work in unsafe conditions”.
Elsewhere, the Independent Schools Council (ISC), which represents more than 1,300 independent schools in the UK, said it was seeking “urgent clarification” from the government over its plans.
Julie Robinson, ISC chief executive, said: “All schools put safety first and are concerned for their communities. Independent schools share the concerns expressed by the unions today.”
But Dr Mike Tildesley, a University of Warwick epidemiologist who advises the government as part of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said that while there was a rise in cases in secondary school age groups, there was not strong evidence of transmission in the school environment.
Sian Elliott, of the Trades Union Congress, said the last-minute announcements were “wreaking havoc” for working parents, leaving many “in an impossible position, scrambling to hold onto their jobs and care for their children”.
Ms Elliott said parents affected by school closures should be offered paid parental leave or furlough. Mr Williamson said in mid-December that all primary school pupils in England would return as normal in January, while the return of secondary schools and colleges would be gradual to give them time to set up mass testing programmes.
The education secretary delayed the start of term for all secondary schools, as well as some primary schools in Covid hotspots in south-east England, including parts of London.
Two days later, he expanded the primary school closures to the whole of London.
Vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers will continue to attend school, the government said, adding that early years care, alternative provision and special schools will remain open.