Britain should follow France and Spain’s lead on school closures

This pandemic has not been short of unexpected twists. Perhaps the most surprising of them all has been Britain’s willingness to close its schools. Boris Johnson’s reasoning for his U-turn in January seemed paradoxical at best: despite judging schools ‘safe’, he closed them anyway. Even more incredibly, the bulk of British parents have been supportive of his decision. On this issue, at least, is it time to take our lead from Europe?

While Britain has outpaced Europe in its vaccine roll-out, the attitude towards schooling on the continent has been much bolder than our own. Schools have remained open in both France and Spain throughout the winter, despite both countries experiencing a spike in Covid cases. What’s more, cases are now levelling off in both countries. It remains to be seen whether this plateau continues and if the existing lockdown measures are enough to contain the virus.

But it’s not as if France and Spain are contravening the science by keeping schools open.