Commenting on the announcement from the Department for Education
that routine Coronavirus testing of pupils and staff is to be
rolled out from January, starting in secondary schools, and that
daily testing of staff and pupils will be offered as an
alternative to self-isolation, Patrick Roach, General Secretary
of the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union, said:
“Offering routine tests for Covid among pupils and staff is a
potentially helpful additional measure for schools and colleges
to draw upon to help them remain open as safely as possible.
“However, the introduction of mass testing is not a panacea to
tackling the virus in education settings and it must not be
allowed to compromise other Covid security measures in schools
and colleges. It remains of serious concern that the Government
has not taken action to ensure that all schools and colleges are
supported and fully resourced to ensure that essential
Covid-safety measures are in place to minimise the risk of
transmission of the virus amongst pupils and staff.
“The variable accuracy of lateral flow tests is already a concern
and the effectiveness of the testing programme will need to be
closely monitored to ensure it does not undermine the safety of
pupils or staff.
“It will also be important that this strategy is not used to keep
schools open in circumstances where the number of pupils or staff
testing positive within a school or college indicates that full
or partial closures are the safest option. The desire to minimise
disruption to pupils’ learning must not be allowed to override
the safety of pupils or staff.
“The NASUWT will be seeking urgent further clarification from the
DfE about how these tests are to be administered and by whom. The
NASUWT is clear that it is not the responsibility of teachers or
school leaders to undertake testing of pupils or employees and
will be expecting the Government to confirm that it does not
expect teaching staff to carry out this work.”
