By Victoria Mckeown
Secondary school pupils are to ‘be encouraged’ to wear masks in classrooms in a bid to tackle the coronavirus, according to Sage scientists working for the British government.
Schools should also be allowed to move to blended learning in areas with high Covid infection rates as part of urgent action to make them safe for pupils and staff, a group of scientists have suggested today.
The Independent Sage group also want primary school end if year Sats to be scrapped, and exams to be replaced by teacher assessments next year. The suggestions are yet to be rubber stamped, but present another step in what some critics are already regarding as excessive and draconian rules.
Interestingly enough, the scientists have made no recommendations for primary school pupils to wear masks in classrooms. The idea to for masks to be pushed in classrooms was first floated a few weeks ago, but has resurfaced.
Masks and school rotas are already part of the DfE’s plan to tackle Covid 19, but it is the first time this suggestion has been made to impose masks in classrooms.
The Independent Sage recommendations for “urgent action” on schools comes in the wake of the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that only secondary school-aged children in England have seen a rise in Covid-19 infection rates.
Recent Department for Education (DfE) figures show that nearly three in four (73 per cent) secondary schools in England have had at least one pupil self-isolating at home last week due to potential contact with coronavirus.
Prof Stephen Reicher of the University of St Andrews said: “In the summer, the government effectively abandoned schools, requiring them to be safe but without providing the support or the resources to make this possible.
“As a result, far too many of our children are left in crowded, badly ventilated classrooms; infections have increased 50-fold since September; one in five students are off school; and all this is now putting the whole community at risk.
“The Government must acknowledge its error and change direction. We must act urgently to make schools safe. This crucial report provides a blueprint for exactly how that can be achieved.”
Independent Sage have also recommended better classroom ventilation and warm clothing to be provided to children in need; and smaller classes. The report says that teachers have been given “misleading information” about the health risks and the risks of contact on school buses and in playgrounds has “not been adequately recognised”.
The group of scientists also suggest that standardised tests cannot “run fairly” when some schools have been affected worse than others, according to a report from a group of scientists – which says schools do not need the extra stress.
The panel of scientists, chaired by former Chief Scientific Adviser Sir David King are holding a presentation on Covid in schools today.
Responding to the new Independent Sage report, ASCL general secretary Geoff Barton said: “We have repeatedly called on the government to allow schools to move to rota systems if this would help them to manage the significant disruption many are experiencing because of coronavirus.
“The government has refused to countenance this approach and has dogmatically insisted that schools must plough on to the end of term fully open whatever the consequences.
“We now see that Independent Sage is proposing blended learning for secondary schools in areas with high levels of infection on scientific grounds in order to control infection rates.
“We share the government’s view that keeping schools open is a national priority but it should be prepared to show some flexibility in how this is achieved in light of the extreme circumstances.
“At the very least the government must give school leaders the flexibility to move to remote learning during the final week of term either fully or partially based on their judgement of the situation.
“Many schools may be in the invidious position of having to tell large numbers of pupils and staff to self-isolate over Christmas in line with Covid protocols.
“They need to be able to make decisions over how best to deliver learning during that week in order to minimise that risk and in the best interests of their school community.”
Welcome
Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said: “This is a welcome intervention by Independent Sage, which once again exposes the enormous blind-spot that Government has towards schools. Today’s consultation document raises many issues which must now be seriously considered. It is quite clear that schools and colleges need much stronger safety measures.
“There are ways in which schools can be made safer. We gave the Government a roadmap in June, including advice on expanding school sites to get class sizes down, encouraging teachers back from retirement, and a proper, effective test track and trace system.
“They have delivered on none of this, and have instead given schools late guidance, a helpline that provides inconsistent messages, and the staggering suggestion just this week that NEU members should ‘hold their nerve’ as staff and pupil attendance deteriorates and schools struggle to remain operational. Schools have been abandoned by this Government.”