Commenting on the National Education Union’s expectations of a
meeting with Government scientists later today to examine the
safety of a wider opening of schools, Kevin Courtney, Joint
General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"There are important scientific questions that need to be
addressed, and we will listen to what the Government’s scientists
have to say. We want to hear what the science is. We want to know
how much children transmit to one another and to adults. We also
want to know what the risk is for society as a whole, and whether
they now have contact tracing running well enough so that it can
keep the case count low and hold it there.
"It's really important that we are absolutely clear what the
level of safety is and if it remains the case that we believe it
to be unsafe, we will not back the wider opening of schools.
"We want to get back to wider school opening as soon as it is
safe to do. Most schools are open at the moment and have been
open since lockdown began, for the benefit of children of key
workers and the most vulnerable children in our society. Our
members care deeply about the children they teach.
"It was a complete shock to my union and every other union when
the Prime Minister announced on Sunday that he intends to re-open
Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 from June 1st. The Government has
not engaged with us at all on this, nor the notion of class sizes
of 15 pupils. Classrooms in very many schools are often so small
it is an impossibility to sustain social distancing with that
number.
"Yesterday the Office of National Statistics said that age does
not affect the likelihood of being infected with Covid-19. This
should set off alarm bells for Government. It stokes fears that
they have no real sense of the dangers posed by the wider opening
of schools, to a spike in transmission through asymptomatic
children coming in regular contact with adults. The science on
this remains unclear. (1)
"Nor will anyone be reassured by the performance of the
Department for Education's chief scientific adviser, Osama
Rahman, who appeared clueless in front of the Commons Science and
Technology Committee on Wednesday. We cannot be confident that
Government is being 'led by the science' when the senior adviser
who is closest to schools is so clearly in the dark.
"School workers have never been more united. The National
Education Union has had 7,500 new members since Sunday, and
100,000 responses to a survey in just 48 hours. Their message is
our message, and it is clear: members want to and will get back
to school, but only when it is safe.
"Head teachers, many of whom are represented by the NEU, agree
with us. 10,000 heads have signed our petition to only open
schools when it is safe to do so. The same petition now has
400,000 signatures in all, including over 50,000 support staff
and thousands of health workers. (2)
"Parents also agree with us. Parentkind has backed our five tests
(3), and a Deltapoll survey of parents shows massive supportive
for our position. They want extensive arrangements for testing
and contact tracing. They want personal protective equipment for
school staff. They want to see the scientific evidence and
modelling to prove the case for wider opening. One third of
parents say they will not return their children to school until
they have reason to be confident. (4)
"Our five tests are responsible and sensible. The Government must
pass them all. We need to know that the wider opening of schools
is safe for parents and for children, for teachers, heads and
school staff, and for the wider community."
ENDS
Editor's Note
1) ONS: https://twitter.com/ONS/status/1260921625391902720
2) Petition: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/open-schools-when-it-is-safe
3) Parentkind/NEU letter to DfE: https://neu.org.uk/press-releases/neu-and-parentkind-write-gavin-williamson
4) Parents survey https://neu.org.uk/press-releases/parents-views-lockdown-and-school-safety
