The following Statement was made in the House of Commons on
Wednesday 5 January. “With permission, I would like to make a
Statement regarding the return to all educational settings for
children, students and staff. There have been a number of
adjustments to the start of this term, and I am grateful for the
chance to update the House in more detail on what that means.
Although we are beginning the transition from pandemic to endemic,
Covid has undoubtedly been the...Request free trial
The following Statement was made in the House of Commons on
Wednesday 5 January.
“With permission, I would like to make a Statement regarding the
return to all educational settings for children, students and
staff. There have been a number of adjustments to the start of
this term, and I am grateful for the chance to update the House
in more detail on what that means.
Although we are beginning the transition from pandemic to
endemic, Covid has undoubtedly been the greatest threat to our
way of life since the Second World War but, just as we did then,
we are going to get on with the job. I know that our teaching
communities have been adversely affected by the omicron variant,
which is why I issued our recent call to arms, urging any
teachers who have stepped away from the profession or who have
retired to return, even if it is for just a few hours a week, so
that we can keep children learning. I am glad to say that we have
already seen the first volunteers heading back to our classrooms,
including at least two of our own, my honourable friends the
Members for Eastbourne () and for Stoke-on-Trent
North (), as well as staff from my
department who have answered that call. They do this House great
credit, and I am sure I speak for the whole House when I say that
we thank them and wish them well. I will have a better idea at
the end of this week of the exact number of former teachers who
have come forward to lend their support.
Even so, schools will be suffering some degree of staff absences.
At the end of last year the figure was about 8% of staff off and
that is likely to rise, with increasing cases in school and among
young people as we return to school. However, let me say this: I
have absolute faith in our teaching communities. Teachers,
classroom assistants, nursery providers, heads and lecturers in
all our education settings have worked miracles throughout this
pandemic and continue to do so. To ease some of the burden, there
will be a short temporary break from Ofsted inspections during
the first week of term as schools undertake on-site pupil
testing. Ofsted will also encourage settings that have been hit
badly by Covid-related staff absences to ask for a deferral of
planned inspections. We will work with supply agencies to make
sure that schools can continue to function, and that we
prioritise children’s learning face to face and, of course, in
the face of staff absences.
In November, we reopened the Covid workforce fund, and we are
extending it to the February half-term to support schools that
are facing the greatest staffing and funding pressures. I would
like right now to be crystal clear about one thing: we must do
everything in our power to keep all education and childcare
settings open and teaching in person. Face-to-face education is
the best way for children and young people to learn and develop.
You do not have to be the Education Secretary to know this.
Teachers know it, parents know it and kids know it better than
any of us.
I would now like to outline the additional measures we have put
in place to make that possible and at the same time limit the
spread of infection. On 26 November, every single nursery,
school, college and university was invited to order supplies of
lateral flow tests, and they will have received their allocation
of the 31 million tests, in advance of their pupils, students and
staff returning, through a dedicated supply channel. As a result,
all our education and childcare settings were already well
prepared for the start of this term.
It is because we know that one of the most effective weapons in
our Covid arsenal is a robust testing programme that all
secondary schools were asked to provide one on-site test for
pupils at the start of term. They are getting on with that job
right now, and I thank them for it. All college and university
students and all staff have been asked to self-test at home
before they return to the classroom. Secondary, college and
university students, and education staff and childcare staff,
should then continue to test themselves at least twice a week. If
any school or college runs out of testing kits, they can order
more through the usual online ordering channel, or call 119 to
receive further advice and support about their supply. We
continue to work closely with the UK Health Security Agency to
maintain supplies for all our education settings.
We continue to welcome international students to the United
Kingdom, and universities stand ready to support any students who
are required to quarantine on arrival. Overseas students should
not worry, because visa concessions remain in place for
international students to allow them to study remotely until 6
April this year.
The best way people can safeguard themselves and their families
is by getting jabbed. The British public have responded
magnificently, with around 60% having received all three jabs. We
want to make sure that everyone gets vaccinated as soon as
possible, which is why I have been urging parents to get the
second doses for 12 to 15 year-olds that are now on offer. They
can make appointments for both doses on the NHS booking service,
and any children who are at risk in the five-to- 11 age group can
also get a jab by the middle of this month. There will also be a
vaccination service in schools for those children who are
eligible for jabs, beginning on Monday.
We have already delivered more than 350,000 carbon dioxide
monitors, which settings have found extremely helpful in managing
ventilation. Teachers have told us that they are finding the
monitors helpful to manage ventilation, and in the majority of
settings existing ventilation measures are perfectly adequate for
the job. For the few—the very few—cases where maintaining good
ventilation is more challenging, we are sending out up to 8,000
air cleaning units from next week. Alongside other protective
measures such as testing, vaccinations and better hygiene, these
will help to manage transmission and keep settings open.
To keep as many people as possible learning in school and college
and higher education, we have said that face coverings should be
worn in classrooms and teaching spaces for pupils and students in
year 7 or above. We would not normally expect teachers to wear
face coverings in classrooms if they are mainly at the front of
the class delivering a lesson. I know people feel very strongly
about this, and some have said we are wrong to do it. I follow
the data, however, as I have always done. The UK Health Security
Agency has said that the measure will help reduce transmission at
a time when rates of infection are so high with the omicron
variant. My department has also looked at observational data from
a sample of 123 schools where face coverings were in use in the
autumn term and found that there was a greater reduction in Covid
absence compared with those where students did not wear face
coverings.
Obviously, wearing face coverings is not ideal. It is distracting
for children at a time when they should be concentrating or
listening to their teachers. I also know that it is not great for
any child’s well-being, and I have commissioned staff from my
department to conduct further research to better understand the
negative impacts of face coverings on education along with
publishing the initial findings today, but I have to strike a
balance between the vital need to keep schools open and reducing
the spread of infection. As my honourable friend the Member for
Stoke-on-Trent North rightly pointed out in his article in the
Times,
‘Facemasks are a price worth paying to keep kids where they
belong, in the classroom.’
So, for the shortest possible time, and not a day more, that is
what we will recommend. It is the sensible and pragmatic thing to
do, and it is a proportionate thing to do.
I will review the recommendation on 26 January when I hope the
data will allow us to ditch masks in class. Our young people have
put up with an awful lot over the past two years. By doing
everything that has been asked of them, they will have sacrificed
many of the things all of us here took for granted when we were
growing up. I am determined that we take whatever precautions we
have to take now for the shortest possible time so that children
can get back to the life that they should be leading and that
they deserve.
We all owe it to this generation to give them the world- class
education they deserve. For this reason, I commend this Statement
to the House.”
3.54pm
My Lords, I am pleased to take this opportunity to wish both
noble Baronesses on the Front Bench opposite and all noble Lords
a happy and healthy new year, and certainly a better one than
2021—which, I have to say, is not a high bar to set.
We welcome the Statement on the return of education settings,
although it is noticeable that the Secretary of State had very
little to say about post-school education and nothing at all, not
a single word, about preschool education. Can the Minister say
what advice and support have been offered to early years and
nursery settings to ensure that they remain as safe as possible
and that as many as possible can remain fully or near fully
functional? It is essential that four year-olds are school ready
come September, and parents would value an indication as to what
the Government are planning to ensure that. I am sure they would
agree that additional funding would be a significant start.
We welcome the Secretary of State’s stated determination to do
everything possible
“to keep all education and childcare settings open”
and to ensure teaching in person. In pursuit of that aim, the
Government will have the full support of the Official
Opposition.
Yesterday’s Times newspaper quoted the chair of Ofqual as saying
that schools may need to suspend specialist subjects and focus on
core lessons as a means of coping with staff absences. The
Secretary of State’s call for former or retired teachers to
return to the profession to cover for staff shortages caused by
Covid is sensible, and we hope it will prove successful.
Interestingly, the Statement informs us that two of those who
have answered the call are Tory MPs. Given the Government’s
recent record in by-elections, I suspect that it is unlikely the
pair will be permitted to return to their profession
full-time.
The Statement also says that, at the end of 2021, the level of
staff absences in schools was around 8%, a figure likely to rise
given the increase in Covid cases. Since the Department for
Education monitors daily whether a school has closed, can the
Minister say how many schools have not opened so far this
term?
Then there is the vexed question of air purification. In May
2020, SAGE first recommended to the Government that all
educational spaces should be effectively ventilated in a manner
that does not rely just on opening windows—not a pleasant
prospect in winter. In answer to my colleague in the other place,
the Secretary of State said yesterday that
“8,000 air purifying devices are going out as of next
week”.—[Official Report, Commons, 5/1/22; col. 54.]
That will be at least 600 days after SAGE first flagged the
importance of school ventilation. Meanwhile, a pilot study of air
purifiers has been undertaken in schools in Bradford. Can the
Minister say when we can expect to see the report of that
pilot?
The Statement says that there will be a short break from Ofsted
inspections in secondary schools due to lateral flow testing. We
believe that it is much too short a break and that asking only
current heads of schools not to participate in Ofsted inspection
teams is also not helpful. It is probable that many current
senior staff also undertake Ofsted inspection work, and taking
them out of their own school for that to continue when their
primary duty is to help minimise staff shortages due to Covid is
irresponsible. Can the Minister tell noble Lords how many current
school staff a week on average are taken out of their schools
because of Ofsted inspection duties? How many schools have asked
recently for an inspection to be deferred because of high staff
absenteeism?
For reasons that I hope the Minister will be able to explain, the
Statement had nothing at all to say about examinations. Indeed,
it required a direct question from Bridget Phillipson to elicit
from the Secretary of State yesterday that BTECs and other
vocational exams will proceed as planned this month. Noble Lords
also heard an education Statement this week last year, and one of
the contentious issues then was that BTECs were to proceed with
their January exams while those for students sitting A-levels
were not. The Minister and noble Lords will be familiar with the
Government’s controversial plans in the Skills and Post-16
Education Bill to defund most BTECs, and it seems that the
failure to give them so much as a mention in this Statement
underlines the low level of importance attached to these
qualifications by many in the DfE. Their future remains
uncertain, but it is not acceptable for the futures of these
young people studying them and currently preparing to sit their
exams to remain uncertain.
There remains much uncertainty surrounding the immediate future
of young people at all stages of their education. Parents deserve
to have clear evidence of planning by the Government and, while
some signposts are included in this Statement, there is no
mention of a plan B should the worst happen and exams be
disrupted for a third successive year. I do not expect the
Minister to respond on that point, because even to admit that a
plan B exists would be perceived as a sign of government
weakness, not least by the more extreme elements of her own
parliamentary party. This Statement represents a start point, no
more.
My Lords, I wish a happy new year from these Benches to everyone
who is here. I shall try not to repeat what the noble Lord, Lord
Watson, has said, but on many of these issues we are singing from
the same hymn sheet. There is much to welcome in this Statement,
and I must start by paying tribute to our wonderful teachers who
have pulled out all the stops and worked horrendous hours to try
to supply interesting learning online to their students. I have a
teacher daughter, and she was working absolutely horrendous hours
during that time.
Teachers have been at the sharp end, a much sharper end than
where Ministers have been. I, too, am delighted that two MPs have
answered the call to arms by returning to the classroom, but I am
disappointed that teachers who have stepped away from the
classroom were, I understand, advised to contact supply agencies,
not their local schools. Can the Minister explain this? It is
likely to deter many willing ex-teachers. We recognise that
having teachers is essential and that their subject expertise is
less important, although many subjects will suffer without
professional expertise. I think I have probably been away from
the classroom for too long to offer my old skills, but I will
never forget my supply teaching days, which included a woodwork
lesson in a room surrounded by lethal tools and large angry boys
who realised that I was not going to be qualified to let them
loose with practical work. I was lucky to get out alive on that
occasion, but here I am today with the help of general knowledge
quizzes, mental maths tests and an instinct for survival. I hope
that ex-teachers who return to the classroom are not faced with
such situations today.
We warmly welcome the policy to keep education settings open.
There is much evidence of the great harm done to children and
young people deprived of classroom teaching. Children need
communal learning experiences and social interaction to develop
the best from education. Sitting alone talking to a screen is no
substitute.
On the provision of lateral flow tests, what assurances can the
Minister give that schools will not be hit, as much of the
country has been hit, by shortages? We are lucky here that the
Bishops’ Bar seems to have supplies, as I drew a blank trying to
find a chemist or an online supplier which would let me have
tests yesterday. Will schools and colleges have priority
bookings? Where should they send pupils if they run out and
pupils cannot be tested at home? What is being done about those
who peddle misinformation on vaccines? Will the Government bring
in exclusion zones around schools so that those messages are not
heard by our young people? Can the Minister say something about
the catch-up programme and, as the noble Lord, Lord Watson,
asked, the position about mock exams and real exams in the
summer? Can entrants be assured of exams in person?
We, too, are concerned at the Secretary of State’s defence of the
very belated announcement of only 8,000 air purifiers for more
than 300,000 classrooms in England in which he said that they do
not need them. Will the Government publish the data from the CO2
monitors that shows that only 8,000 classrooms need them? When
will they arrive at schools? How many classrooms will one unit
service? Opening windows in this weather is likely to lead to
very chilled students, but proper ventilation is a key to
battling Covid. Can the Minister also say why the department is
recommending Dyson air purifiers when there are far cheaper ones
available on the market and Dyson has demonstrated his loyalty to
the country by taking his workforce overseas? Are there not
British-based companies which would welcome this business?
On face masks, which will obviously impact teachers’ and
students’ ability to communicate but which I recognise are
probably a necessary evil, can the Minister say what provision is
being made for deaf or hard-of-hearing students who normally
lip-read? I have a deaf friend who has found life very difficult
trying to understand anything that has been said by mask-wearing
people. Does the Minister have proposals for such people?
We all recognise the pressures on education in this unprecedented
situation and we will do all we can to support government
measures where we can, but many teachers, parents and children
will be thinking and saying that this is too little and too late.
Time will tell how effective the Government’s measures have been.
I look forward to the Minister’s reply.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education
I thank the noble Lord and the noble Baroness for their good
wishes for 2022 and offer my good wishes to the whole House. I
echo the sentiments of the noble Baroness, Lady Garden, about the
extraordinary job that our teachers have done, and I know the
noble Lord, Lord Watson, shares that sentiment.
I will respond to the points the noble Lords raised. The noble
Lord, Lord Watson, started by asking about early years and
post-school education. Guidance has been provided to all
educational settings, including early years, further education
and higher education. The testing capacity that we have set aside
for all in education applies to those settings also.
The noble Lord, Lord Watson, referred to the absence rate among
the teaching workforce, which was around 8% at the end of last
term. It is slightly higher at the moment, at around 8.5%. I
think the noble Lord is right that we should expect to see it
rise, which is why we have encouraged schools to think about
flexible ways of delivering the curriculum, with an absolute
emphasis on trying to keep children in classrooms. We know that
about 99% of primary schools opened at the beginning of this
term. We are just cleansing the data on secondary schools,
because they had a number of inset and testing days, which makes
it slightly more complicated to analyse. I will be happy to
update the House when we have that data.
The noble Lord asked about the Bradford study in relation to
ventilation. That trial is being funded by UKHSA through the
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s research
centre. The results of the study are expected in October 2022.
More broadly, the noble Baroness, Lady Garden, asked about the
justification for 8,000 ventilators and why we are using Dyson.
If I may, I think the noble Baroness was quite ungenerous about
the role that Dyson has played during the pandemic. She will
remember, and I am sure will acknowledge, the extraordinary work
it did to supply ventilators in ICUs. Dyson is one of the
suppliers the department is using but, in addition to the 8,000
units, there is a marketplace for schools that feel they need
additional units, through which a range of suppliers are
providing equipment. The 8,000 figure comes from the data from
the 350,000 CO2 monitors that we supplied, as promised, last
term, which shows that additional ventilation needs in some
spaces can be addressed through opening a window, but other
spaces need extra support, hence the air purification
equipment.
I will try to clarify the situation in relation to Ofsted. As the
noble Lord said, we have suspended Ofsted inspections for the
first week of term. We have also very much encouraged schools
which are suffering particularly high levels of staff absence and
which have an Ofsted inspection due to ask for a deferral of that
inspection. We would expect that to be looked on very generously.
In relation to staff, my understanding is that there will be no
extraction of staff from schools and that this does not relate
just to head teachers, to whom the noble Lord referred. However,
all Ofsted inspections relating to safeguarding are continuing,
for obvious reasons.
Both noble Lords asked about the situation with exams. There was
nothing in the Statement about exams because there is nothing new
on exams; our intentions in relation to exams remain unchanged.
The lack of reference to BTECs has absolutely nothing to do with
a lack or low level of respect—I think those were the noble
Lord’s words—on the part of the department or its Ministers.
In relation to the use of supply agencies for those returning to
the classroom, that of course does not prevent retired teachers
contacting a local school. I am sure the noble Baroness heard the
same interview with Sir Michael Wilshaw that I heard, when he
talked about going back to his local school, but it is fair to
say that supply agencies will know where needs are greatest. We
have extended the time for the Covid work- force fund so that the
costs of using supply teachers are covered.
The noble Baroness asked whether I could give an assurance about
the availability of tests. Having listened to the debate, not in
your Lordships’ House but in the other place and in the media,
this seems to be an area where there is real misunderstanding.
For year 7 and above pupils and staff, we have a separate supply
of test kits. Schools were informed in November, then reminded in
December, to order tests for testing at the beginning of this
term; we delivered around 31 million tests to schools, early
years settings, colleges and universities in the weeks commencing
6 and 13 December in readiness for that testing. We received a
further 17.6 million orders for test kits from schools between 8
and 28 December, and those will be delivered by 14 January. If
schools find that they have run out of test kits, for whatever
reason, there is an emergency line and those deliveries are
normally turned around in 48 hours. Any education setting can
place a new order for lateral flow devices 10 calendar days after
its previous order has been confirmed.
Misinformation, which the noble Baroness raised, is extremely
troubling and something that we are concerned about. She will
remember that it was debated extensively during the Police,
Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The police have powers to deal
with those sorts of protests and a lot of work has gone on to
improve the liaison between schools and the police, but we share
her concern.
Finally, in relation to face masks, we very much encourage the
use of discretion with them, where appropriate. Teachers facing a
classroom and teaching are not expected to wear a face mask. We
absolutely recognise the difficulties that deaf children face but
we encourage schools to use their discretion in ensuring they can
accommodate those children, just as they accommodate every other
child.
4.13pm
My Lords, I would like to raise the importance of keeping all
staff in schools. That requires vaccinations to be readily
available for not just teachers but cleaning and catering staff.
From my contact with somebody who runs a significant number of
primary academies, that is still a significant problem. If you
want to keep the maximum number of children in school, you need
to ensure that there is no problem with teachers getting
vaccinated. Also, there is bound to be some learning online but
there is still a problem with some children, especially in
low-income houses, having a lack of available laptops or
iPads—or, perhaps even more challenging, a decent broadband
connection. Those are some of the issues that I hope the Minister
will address.
I thank the noble Lord for his question. He will have seen the
same figures that I saw about the extraordinary efforts over
Christmas on the vaccination booster campaign, with remarkable
numbers—900,000 people a day—being vaccinated. I know that he was
talking about staff but it is also really important for pupils.
Almost half of 12 to 15 year-olds have now had their first
vaccination, so extraordinary progress is being made but he makes
a valid point: we need everybody to be vaccinated who is able to
be. In relation to the availability of devices and data, he will
be aware that we distributed more than 1.3 million devices and,
where needed, data dongles so that children working from home
were able to do so if they did not have access to them. We keep
that closely under review.
My Lords, I was glad to hear in the Statement that face-to-face
education is the best way for children and young people to learn
and develop—I agree—but face mask to face mask is not face to
face. There is a lot of concern that face masks are really not
necessary but are a bit of theatre and performance when the young
are not under threat from this variant and when the Education
Secretary’s newly published evidence is being widely described as
not fit for purpose, as very thin and even as misinformation,
which is leading to a lot of cynicism. Will the Minister comment
on the fact that, according to the BBC and the NASUWT, a huge
number of north-west secondary pupils are not following guidance
because they just do not believe in it? They are refusing to do
LFTs or wear masks. In one school, 67 out of 1,300 pupils are not
following guidance—I do not want them to be punished, by the way;
I rather admire it. Can the Minister indicate how the young can
be convinced when the evidence just is not there that face masks
will protect them in schools? Other things might, but not face
masks.
To pick up on the noble Baroness’s final point, face masks—as she
puts her face mask on enthusiastically—
Not enthusiastically at all.
Face masks are part of the answer. As the noble Baroness well
knows, it is a mixture of a number of elements,
including—importantly —vaccination, ventilation, hygiene, testing
and face masks. She may have heard my right honourable friend the
Secretary of State say yesterday that face masks will not stay on
a day longer than they need to, and we will review them on 26
January.
I want to make two points. First, beyond the evidence that we
have gathered from 123 schools—I am surprised at the noble
Baroness’s remarks, which I think are harsh; having read it
myself, I would not agree with her—there is also advice from
Sage, there are randomised control trials from UKHSA and there is
international evidence, all of which build a picture of this
being part of an effort to control infection at a time when the
virus is rampant.
Secondly, I guess it depends on which kids you listen to but
based on the interviews with young people that I have seen, they
are really pragmatic. They say they would much rather not wear
face masks, but they understand, and they feel a bit safer. They
will put up with it, as they have to. It is not what anybody
wants, but it is part of making sure that schools stay open and
parents feel confident that their children can go.
My Lords, I am aware that the Minister was venturing somewhat
outside of her portfolio, but I point out with regard to her
response to the Front-Bench questions that Dyson did not supply
any ventilators to the NHS and the Dyson ventilator never
received MHRA approval. It is a point of fact.
My question builds on the Front-Bench questions about the up to
8,000 air-cleaning units that the Statement says will be sent out
next week. I am delighted finally to see ventilation for the
first time playing a significant role in a government Statement
on Covid; this is progress. However, as the Front-Bench
questioners pointed out, there are 300,000 classrooms and 8,000
air cleaners. From my knowledge of this area—I have met some
people from the industry—I think that, to be effective, at least
two cleaners would be needed for an average-size classroom, so we
are talking about a tiny fraction. This will be an issue,
particularly in many new classrooms. Speaking from experience,
having been a school governor—possibly for my sins—on the
building committee for the rebuild of a school, I remember that
the one thing the teachers asked for was opening windows. What
did we get? Windows that did not open. I believe that many new
schools have windows that do not open, and that will present a
huge ventilation problem.
My question to the Minister is—maybe she does not know the answer
at this moment; perhaps she could write to me—how many of those
300,000 classrooms have windows that cannot be opened?
I am not sure, with respect, that the question asked by the noble
Baroness is the right question. We had 350,000 CO2monitors in
schools last term. They are portable and are moved around
multiple classrooms, staff rooms, lavatories—all over the school.
From those we have readings showing where there is an elevated
level of CO2. Those spaces, which amount to about 8,000, are
where we are putting in the ventilators. If the noble Baroness
does not believe the Government, she might look at Teacher Tapp,
which came up with the same figure.
My noble friend did not reply to the question from the noble
Lord, Lord Watson, about the comments from the head of Ofqual,
who seems to think that teachers of music should be redeployed to
teach other subjects. Surely, we need more music in our schools,
not less.
One can never have enough music in one’s life, but the point we
are trying to make is that we are in a relatively
brief—hopefully—but intense and challenging period for schools.
We trust teachers and head teachers to make the right judgments
about how to use their resources. If that involves some
flexibility in the curriculum or combining two class groups if a
teacher is off sick, then we trust them to do that intelligently,
well and in our children’s interests.
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