Commenting on the latest school attendance figures from
Government, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the
National Education Union, said:
"With almost most half of secondary schools and one in six
primary schools affected by positive COVID cases and having to
send children home, it is clearly time that action is taken to
prevent this situation escalating even more out of control. The
Government cannot turn away from this data.
'The NEU has supported calls for a two-week circuit breaker over
half term both to enable Government to get control of trace track
and test and to lower the infection rate making it easier for the
system to cope. The Government urgently needs to look at this and
at other ways of reducing transmission in schools.
'Increasing numbers of pupils and whole year bubbles having to
isolate is causing a great deal of disruption to children and
young people's education and is making the Government's decision
to stick to end of year GCSE and A level examinations, with the
only change being a 3-week delay ever more untenable. It needs to
relook both at next year's exams and the equally untenable
suggestion that SATs will go ahead as usual.
'The Government must of course also guarantee the expansion of
free school meals and holiday food provision for the
disadvantaged during any such circuit breaker as well as during
the half term holiday.
'Acting now could reduce the levels of disruption in the coming
months and enable schools and colleges to operate in the most
effective way possible".
