Today the NEU launches a new Education Recovery Plan to lead us
out of lockdown in a way that is safe and sustainable for schools
and colleges.
Our original recovery plan, sent to the Government in June 2020,
was a constructive and comprehensive roadmap out of the first
national lockdown. It set out practical steps for fully reopening
schools and colleges.
Unfortunately, and to the risk of everyone working in education,
the Government persisted with plans of its own. Whole year-group
bubbles led to high numbers of pupil absences, as did too little
space, inadequate PPE, no meaningful social distancing, and a
lack of ventilation. ONS data has shown that school-age children
as a group had the fastest rate of growth in Covid cases
throughout the autumn term. This was a direct result of
Government negligence on school safety.
This is why the National Education Union is setting out a new
recovery plan. Government has not, up to this point, made schools
and colleges Covid-secure – and there was no hint of any further
measures in yesterday’s announcement by . Our plan, if adopted, would make the difference.
Our education recovery plan is split into three parts.
The first focuses on the challenge of educating students safely,
by creating safer educational workplaces and continuing remote
learning where necessary. It includes recommendations on social
distancing, face coverings, vaccines and ventilation, rotas and
remote education.
The second part of the plan contains proposals to build a better
education system as we emerge from the pandemic.
The third section of the plan is a call to fight child poverty
and to build a better world, post-Covid, for all our children and
young people.
The NEU Education Recovery Plan is attached. You can also read it
online here: https://neu.org.uk/coronavirus-neu-national-recovery-plan-education
Commenting on the launch of the Education Recovery Plan,
Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National
Education Union, said:
"We all want schools and colleges to be fully open again, but
this needs to be properly planned with measures in place to
address the problems already encountered and to ensure a safe and
sustained return. Plans also need to be in place for remote
learning.
“That is why we are launching our education recovery plan, which
sets out a substantial strategy for schools and colleges to
emerge from lockdown in a way that is safe and sustainable.
"Unions, school leaders, teachers and staff are tired of
last-minute guidance and u-turns. Families, also, have been stung
once too often by false hope.
“Government must now initiate structured talks with education
unions, based upon all available evidence, about how a phased
return is best managed, irrespective of whether that is 8 March
or not. School leaders can then begin making arrangements,
confident that their time is not being wasted and that there is
real potential for long-term solutions. The NEU would enter such
talks with a determination to make our recovery plan a reality,
benefiting staff and pupils alike.
"Simply declaring schools and colleges Covid-secure does not make
them so. With a death toll of 100,000 a stark reminder of the
seriousness of our situation, and with no clear way out of
lockdown, it is incumbent on to finally change tack. We offer this updated plan to
the Prime Minister in the spirit in which the first was intended
– to secure a safe and uninterrupted return to education for
all."
