By Gavin Mackintosh-
The U Turn on the re-opening of British schools at the last minute is a chaotic embarrassment for the Department Of Education after prime minister, Boris Johnson announced that schools and colleges in England are to be closed to most pupils until at least half term.
The decision for lockdown came after UK chief medical officers recommended the Covid threat level be increased to five – its highest level, but many of us in the know are pretty convinced that a lockdown for January was already a planned outcome before Christmas.
Only last month, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, had threatened legal action against schools that refused to open as required, only to be made to look stupid by this late announcement. The U turn, typical of the government for much of 2020 makes the Department Of Education uncertain of its own rules and guidance.
Williamson was insisting on schools staying open because of the importance of education and the fact children are less vulnerable to the virus. His take on the issue seemed to turn a blind eye to the greater danger of the virus spreading through children, but his position was not unreasonable. Some people in this publication agreed with him, but it was surely mistaken.
Last Friday, the Department Of Education told The Eye Of Media.Com that the policy requiring schools to open early in January would not change, but this was reversed within 24 hours.
The prime minister said the new lockdown had to be “tough enough” to stop the variant virus from spreading , stating that teaching will go online. What he did not say is why the Education Secretary did not know this when education unions were last month calling for schools not to open in January because of rising cases.
Boris Johnson also said that it would not be fair for exams to go ahead this summer, meaning that A-Levels and GCSEs will be cancelled.
“Because we now have to do everything we possibly can to stop the spread of the disease, primary schools, secondary schools and colleges across England must move to remote provision from tomorrow,” said the prime minister.
This means a return to online learning for pupils of all ages – apart from vulnerable children and the children of key workers who can continue to go into school, he said.
“We recognise that this will mean it’s not possible or fair for all exams to go ahead this summer, as normal,” said Mr Johnson.
Mess Up
An attempt to produce replacement exam grades last summer was one of the biggest mess ups to arise from the pandemic, leaving many pupils disheartened after the centre assessed mechanism used to assess grades were flawed. Ofqual will have the responsibility of determining exactly how it would
Now, Teachers’ unions have accused the government of failing to react more swiftly to “mounting evidence” about Covid transmission in schools and to make preparations for remote teaching and alternatives to written exams.
But Mary Bousted, co-leader of the National Education Union, said Education Secretary Gavin Williamson had “become an expert in putting his head in the sand”.
Geoff Barton of the ASCL head teachers’ union criticised ministers for having issued legal threats to keep schools open at the end of last term – and then “made a series of chaotic announcements about the start of this term”.
The new term, which began on Monday for primary pupils, has only lasted a day before it has been suspended.
The prime minister said he hoped that schools would be “reopening schools after the February half term”.