Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT,
said: “The government elected to close schools to the majority of
pupils in order to stem the spread of COVID in the community. An
unplanned rush back to schools could easily drive community
transmission back up, and force the school gates shut again,
which nobody wants to see happen.
“Throughout the pandemic we have been calling on the government
to deliver a sustainable plan for the return to school, drawn up
with input from the profession.
“It is essential now that the government clearly sets out the
conditions that would allow pupils to return. Risk needs to be
acknowledged, quantified and mitigated. A national plan of this
kind must include local flexibility to take account of varying
levels of the virus in different parts of the country.
“There is evidence that staff absence due to COVID is higher than
in other professions. Staff absence also has a huge impact on
pupils, who can lose a teacher due to self-isolation even if they
are not sick themselves. For this reason, vaccinations for school
staff should be a priority.
“Governments across the UK must show more urgency with their
plans to get pupils back into classrooms. But now is the moment
for calm heads to decide on a sustainable return to school, not
another chaotic and last-minute set of decisions that could
easily result in a yo-yo return to lockdown.”
