Commenting on the release by the Local Government Association, Dr
Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education
Union, said:
''We agree with the LGA that publication of the scientific advice
is vital to help provide reassurance to the public. The
Government keeps citing Denmark and the Netherlands but those
countries have experienced far fewer deaths per capita than the
UK and therefore aren't suitable comparisons. The UK has
experienced 432 deaths per million of the population compared to
85 deaths per million in Denmark.
"Spain and Italy are the countries that have experienced a higher
death rate per capita than the UK and both have closed their
schools until September. We share the LGA's concern to see the
science and are not at all surprised parents are seeking more
reassurance. A pediatric specialist group, formed to offer advice
in Spain, concluded it would not be safe to open schools until
September, as social distancing would be impossible.
"It's very likely that schools are going to open and close at
different rates in different parts of the country over the next
year, because we may have several cycles of lockdown and
ultimately the health and safety obligation sits with an
individual head. Heads cannot operate their sites where it isn't
safe to do so, including if too many staff are absent because of
health or they're shielding others. The NEU thinks the Government
hasn't got the right national arrangements in place yet to make
this safe, as they haven't even met their own tests. It simply
isn't fair to pass the risk and pressure onto individual head
teachers.
"We agree with the LGA that we need to give local authorities a
leading role. We have concerns that a wider opening of schools,
too early, poses a lot of unanswered questions about the risks in
poor communities. The DFE has not done nearly enough thinking
about the emerging evidence about the racial disparities of the
epidemic and what it means for schools with diverse pupil
populations."
