Commenting on the report on school safety from the committee of
independent scientists chaired by published today
(Friday), UNISON head of education Jon Richards said:
“This is the evidence school staff and parents have been waiting
for. Not only do these scientists say the government’s plans for
schools in England are premature, they also suggest any risks to
children would be halved by waiting a fortnight.
“Ministers need to heed these concerns, stop doggedly pushing
schools to meet the arbitrary 1 June deadline, and ensure proper
tracking and tracing is up and running first.
“There are real concerns the government is gambling with the
safety of pupils, staff and the wider community.
“It makes no sense for ministers to push schools to open more
widely in England, while other parts of the UK take a more
considered approach.
"It’s time ministers took a step back and delayed any moves to
increase the number of pupils in schools until it's safer to do
so."
Earlier today, UNISON – which represents caretakers,
administrative staff, teaching assistants, cleaners and caterers
– published the results of a survey of more than 45,000 school
support staff.
This found an overwhelming majority don’t feel reassured by
government claims that English schools are safe to open to more
pupils at the start of next month, and that ministers’ rushed
back-to-the-classroom plans aren’t putting safety first.
Workers’ confidence in their own schools' ability to be ready for
a wider opening in June was low. Just over three quarters (77%)
didn’t feel their school would have the resources to cope with
the additional responsibility of putting health, safety and risk
assessments in place in time.
Support staff – which make up more than half of the schools’
workforce – were also concerned about the impact of a rushed
return on their own children.
Of those with school age children, 95% said they didn’t feel it
was safe to send them back to school. One worker said she was
‘petrified’ at the thought of her seven-year-old going back.
UNISON is concerned that because support staff tend to be older,
are disproportionately from the BAME community and come from more
disadvantaged backgrounds, they are more at risk from the virus.
