Schools should stay closed until September, according to a big teaching union:
In view of the continued and pressing public health challenges and the considerable task that will be required to ensure that every school is ready to admit increased numbers of children and adults into safe learning and working environments, the NASUWT urges ministers to act to end speculation on the reopening of schools beyond the current restrictions prior to September 2020.
That’s the latest from Patrick Roach, head of the NASUWT. This is a hardening of the line from teaching unions, and one that I think has the potential to cause significant tensions with the government.
It’s worth noting that scientific assessments of the role school children play in spreading the virus is mixed
So far, ministers have been careful to play nicely with school leaders over the lockdown, rightly noting that many teachers are working extremely hard to adapt their working practices to offer online learning and support to children away from the classroom.
There are lots of reasons for that approach, but one of them is a desire to avoid getting drawn into another firefight with ‘the blob’, the vested educational interests that Michael Gove and Dominic Cummings sought to dismantle when they were at the Department for Education.
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