Under Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s roadmap of lifting the UK out of the national lockdown, all schools in England will reopen to all pupils on 8th March. While, the gradual re-opening of the country is a relief for working parents who are mentally, emotionally and physically burnt out from home-schooling their children, teachers have raised red flags over the possibility of a third coronavirus wave. Some are wary of the government’s plans to mass test secondary pupils, warning that it will delay the reopening of schools and fail to catch asymptomatic carriers of Covid. Others believe it risks spreading “a false sense of security” among children and their parents.
Mrs Sarada Sarkar teaches in a grammar school in Kent. She told Asian Voice, “I have mixed feelings with the latest announcement. We all want to go back to normal life. But, considering the transmissibility of the mutated virus and the extent of devastation it has caused, I am worried for a third wave.
“I have not been vaccinated and neither have my colleagues received the vaccination yet. It is quite an irony that we are the frontline workers now. And yet, we have not been prioritised as we should have been considering the safety element of children as well. If we had the vaccinations, then it would be much safer for our families too. Teachers are even more vulnerable than any frontline workers as we need to speak all the time and can’t really wear PPE. In autumn term, schools were provided with the bubble areas and sanitisers, among other safety gear, but it clearly did not stop the second wave. I am worried to go back to school without being vaccinated. It’s like going to war without weapons.”
NEU calls PMs approach counterproductive
As part of the government’s back to school strategy, millions of students are expected to test themselves twice a week at home, under the supervision of their parents, in a bid to catch asymptomatic cases before they can spread the disease to others at school. But some school leaders are “entirely unconvinced” that lateral flow tests are accurate enough to pick up positive cases among asymptomatic young people, who typically have lower viral loads than adults. And nine teaching unions, including the National Education Union has called for a gradual, phased return of children to school in England, warning that if sufficient time isn’t given to assess the impact of opening schools on transmission rates, it could trigger another spike in Covid infections.
In a joint statement, the NEU noted, “We are committed to bringing all children and young people back into the classroom as soon as possible. However, it is counterproductive if there is a danger of causing another surge in the virus, and the potential for a further period of lockdown. Wider opening must be safe and sustainable. We therefore urge the Prime Minister to commit to 8 March only if the scientific evidence is absolutely clear that this is safe, and at that point go no further than a phased return of children and young people with sufficient time to assess the impact before moving to the next phase.
“We are increasingly concerned that the government is minded to order a full return of all pupils on Monday 8 March in England. This would seem a reckless course of action. It could trigger another spike in Covid infections, prolong the disruption of education, and risk throwing away the hard-won progress made in suppressing the virus over the course of the latest lockdown.
“The science around the role that schools play in the overall rate of transmission is uncertain. Scientists have expressed different views on this point. What we do know is that the full reopening of schools will bring nearly 10 million pupils and staff into circulation in England – close to one fifth of the population. This is not a small easing of lockdown restrictions. It is a massive step.”
Parents United lead #FreshAirSchools campaign
But it is not just the school teachers who are concerned about a potential spike in infection rates. Parents United has created an open letter to all Education Ministry Heads in the UK as part of their #FreshAirSchools campaign. The letter has called for a sensible, safe and sustainable approach to the full reopening of schools which must include mitigation against airborne transmission, and a tiered system of mitigations matched to local risk levels. They have highlighted that a previous full reopening of schools in September had contributed significantly to the current wave. According to them government data indicates that, when schools were fully open, school-aged children were twice as likely as the general population to be the index case within a household, with secondary school-aged students being 7 times more likely to be the index case.
In their open letter, they note, “Families with clinical vulnerabilities could not reasonably have been expected to send their child to school, yet were refused home learning support, including once systems to provide such support to self-isolating students were in place. A considerable number of families who provided medical evidence to support their case for keeping their child at home had that evidence refused, and were subjected to coercive attempts to force attendance – fines, threats of prosecution and attempts to remove the child from the school-roll. Not only has this approach caused families undue stress at an extremely difficult time, it has destroyed relationships with schools which once played a pivotal role in these families lives.
“This is particularly the case given the emergence of the more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant, and other variants which may yet prove to be vaccine resistant. Of additional concern is the Office for National Statistics finding that 13-15% of children continue to experience symptoms 5 weeks after receiving a positive Covid-19 test, especially given current lack of support or treatment for children living with debilitating Long Covid symptoms.”
Worried mother annoyed with the government forgetting the teaching staff
Dal Dhaliwal is a wellness and business coach. Annoyed with the government’s failure in vaccinating the teaching staff, she said, “I personally feel like that the teaching staff or anyone who is associated with schools haven’t been taken into consideration. They should have been prioritised for the vaccine and I have been worried about my daughter who teaches at a primary school in West Midlands. She hasn’t taken any time off during the entire lockdown period as she continued to look after the children of the keyworkers.
“I am anxious about her safety because she is susceptible to the virus and although, she has tested negative for the coronavirus each time, there is no guarantee to anything. I am annoyed and extremely disappointed but the government has completely forgotten about the teaching staff.”
Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, is reportedly “very unhappy” with the idea of all 10 million children and staff returning to school on 8 March. Documents by Sage, the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, has only recently warned that the opening of primary and secondary schools could increase R by up to 50%. But, now that the government has announced these measures, schools are ensuring that all the health and safety guidelines in alignment with Covid-19 are implemented.
Schools prepare to unlock
Speaking about the measures in place, a spokesperson of the John Lyons School in Harrow said, “Everyone at John Lyon is excited at the prospect of returning to the School site. Whilst our online lessons and extra-curricular activities have proved popular and successful, a return to face-to-face teaching is what all pupils, parents and teachers really want.
“Just as when we returned after the previous lockdown, a lot of work has gone in to making sure the School can operate as normally as possible whilst putting the health and safety of our pupils and staff at the forefront of everything we do.
We will be working through all the government guidance and applying this rigorously, so that pupils can be back in School from 8th March. This will involve the implementation of rapid testing, sanitation stations, one-way routes, year group bubbles, signage and other safety measures within the school to help enable us to go about our everyday work.”
