UK school closures outstrip EU countries, as Labour exposes Gavin Williamson’s back to school failures

Labour has today [Thursday] published a ‘back to school report’ of Education Secretary Gavin Williamson’s biggest failures from the last year, as new data shows the UK has outstripped European countries in the length of school closures.

The data, analysed by the House of Commons Library, shows the UK has had longer school closures than any European country other than Italy. Since January 2020, shortly before Covid hit, UK children have been out of their classrooms on nearly half (44%) of days.

Over the last school year Labour has called for proactive measures from establishing nightingale classrooms to increasing ventilation to keep children in class, with Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green MP writing eight times to Gavin Williamson urging him to get a grip on the situation.

However, the Conservatives have failed to learn from their mistakes as their scientific advisors warn that their removal of Covid safety measures could see rates spiral as schools return. Alongside his failure to keep children learning, Labour’s back to school report highlights that Williamson’s leadership has seen:

• Over a million children out of school in the last week of the 2020/21 school year as Covid rates rose again;

• The resignation of the Government’s catch-up tsar, criticising the Conservatives’ catch-up plan as “too small, too narrow and too slow”;

• Unequal A-level and GCSE results which saw private school results soar compared to pupils in state schools;

• Children miss out on over 24 million meals this summer as his holiday programme failed to get food to children.

Kate Green MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, said:

“The Conservatives’ failure to respond to the Covid crisis has kept kids out of class for far longer than their European counterparts.

“As the new school year starts, Gavin Williamson is again burying his head in the sand, ignoring the advice of scientific experts and risking creating a climate of chaos for schools if Covid rates rise.

“Rather than ignoring reality, the Conservatives should be listening to the pleas of parents, teachers and Labour to get proper ventilation and Covid secure measures in place to keep children learning together in class.”

Ends

Notes to editors

• House of Commons Library analysis of data from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker shows the UK has had longer complete school closures than any European country other than Italy.

Closure or disruption to schools and universities in Europe during the pandemic

• This data shows that since January 2020, schools and universities have been closed for 44% of the time. Data relate to schools and universities. Analysis does not control for expected periods of closure.

• Labour’s back to school report on Gavin Williamson highlights that during the last school year he failed on:

• Keeping children learning in school

• Putting mitigation measures in place

• Supporting children to recover from the pandemic

• Delivering a fair system for 2021 GCSE, A-level and VTQ results

• Ensuring no child goes hungry

• Return to school in January 2021

• Delivering the January 2021 exam series

• Ensuring every child could access remote learning

• ‘Prepare for back-to-school Covid surge, Sage experts warn’ - The Guardian, 27 August

• Labour has set out a comprehensive Children’s Recovery Plan to help every child bounce back from the pandemic. Labour’s plan would deliver:

• Small group tutoring for all who need it

• Breakfast clubs and activities for every child

• Quality mental health support for children in every school

• Continued professional development for teachers to support pupils to catch up on lost learning, and

• Targeted extra investment from early years to further education to support young people who struggled most with learning in lockdown