Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National
Education Union, said:
“We need a plan B for schools and colleges now.
“Covid-related absences are on the rise in both primary and
secondary settings, and among teachers and school staff - leading
to significant disruption for education. More than 200,000 pupils
were absent for covid-related reasons on 25 November and since
then infection rates among school-age children have risen
further; in particular, rates are rising very rapidly in London,
the South East, and the East of England. If Omicron spreads
this disruption is likely to increase rapidly.
“Children have suffered huge disruption to their education since
March 2020 and our children need the Government to act to keep
absences of staff and pupils as low as possible. But the
Government has so far failed to follow even measures on masks and
isolation that are in place in Scotland.
“So, the NEU is calling for the Government to introduce a plan B
for schools and colleges now. They must urgently increase the
level of mitigations to slow the spread of Covid in our
schools:
- Face coverings should be worn by pupils and staff in secondary
classrooms and communal areas, and by staff who wish to in
classrooms and communal areas of other settings, as is the case
in Scotland and Wales;
- Children who have a sibling or other household member with
covid-19 should not attend school/college until they have had a
negative PCR test - as in Scotland - in addition to the
Government guidance of 10-day isolation on close contacts of
confirmed or suspected Omicron cases.
- The Government should change its ventilation guidance to state
that classrooms must keep CO2 below 800 ppm, as advocated by the
HSE and should invest urgently in air filtration devices.
- Measures such as one-way routes and staggered break times
should be urgently reintroduced to minimise mixing between
classes and year groups wherever possible
- Government to issue guidance to all schools and colleges on
safe organisation of gatherings and meetings, including options
for social distancing or virtual events, based on factors
including local case rates, outbreaks in the school/college
itself, quality of ventilation and space available.
- In addition, Government should encourage schools and colleges
to allow staff to book vaccines and boosters during working hours
without loss of pay and launch a campaign to encourage twice
weekly testing for all staff and pupils. Government should also
mandate provision of higher-grade medical masks (FFP2, FFP3)
provided where requested by at-risk staff and pupils previously
defined as clinically vulnerable, or clinically extremely
vulnerable, or involved in close contact and personal care.
“Once more is known about the Omicron variant these measures may
need to be enhanced further or may no longer be necessary,
following the vaccination effort, but for now, we are calling on
the Government to adopt a cautious approach - a Plan B to stop
the disruption of education.”
