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Boris Johnson has ruled out opening schools before March 8, after warning that coronavirus infection rates remain “alarming”.
The prime minister said he “hoped” students would be able to return to that date, but said it would be subject to a review of the latest data on February 15 on the success of the vaccination program.
He said: “We have to pass judgment on the effectiveness of vaccines in reducing death rates and serious illnesses.
“At the moment, we don’t see the kind of conclusion on this key point.”
Boris Johnson has ordered ministers to speed up preparations for the reopening of schools after learning the UK has now passed the peak of the current wave of coronavirus.
It comes as a new ‘catch-up’ czar who will lead a task force to oversee plans for children to have private lessons and summer schools, was appointed by Mr Johnson on February 3.
The Prime Minister has made it clear that the government must immediately focus on education, and Sir Kevan Collins will lead a team of experts who will draft proposals on how to deal with the amount of learning children have missed during the pandemic.
Mr Johnson said in a statement to the House of Commons that a review of the non-lockdown roadmap would be released in the week starting February 22.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has confirmed that schools will be given two weeks’ notice before they reopen to allow staff to prepare for returning students.
Mr Johnson’s optimism about the school reopening is based on the success of the vaccination program as more than 10 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine in the UK and the number of daily positive tests drops to 16840 to February 2.
Mr Johnson said on January 27 that opening schools is a “national priority” and that returning students to class will be “the first sign that normalcy is starting to return”. He acknowledged how “frustrating” the news would be for teachers and parents. and caregivers, as well as the impact on the mental health of students who stayed home for such a long time.
The government has come under pressure to clarify the timing of the full reopening of schools, following criticism from several backbench Tory MPs, who supported a campaign by the parents’ lobby group UsForThem, which calls for the reopening complete schools.
All primary and secondary schools have been closed since January 5 following the introduction of a third national lockdown in England, and have since offered distance learning to students. Only vulnerable children and children of key workers are currently allowed to attend schools for face-to-face learning.
Read more: UK Covid Vaccination Tracking: Are We Close to End Lockdown?
What are the rules for children of key workers and vulnerable children?
The Education Department (DfE) said children with at least one parent or guardian a critical worker could attend classes – even if the parents worked from home.
It came after concerns were expressed about the risks of transmission of Covid-19 when more than half of the students were on site in some primary schools.
Those entitled to free school meals will continue to receive them during closures, according to Mr Johnson.
Matt Hancock said on Jan.11 that Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, would send 500,000 laptops to vulnerable children to ensure they can access lessons remotely.
The prime minister told MPs that 560,000 laptops had been handed out in 2020, but that still falls short of the 1.5 million students who Ofcom say do not have digital devices at home, that they can learn from.
Mr Williamson said on Jan.21 that an additional 1.3 million electronic devices would be distributed to assist with distance learning as schools would remain closed.
A DfE spokesperson said: “Schools are open to vulnerable children and children of critical workers. We expect schools to work with families to ensure all critical child laborers have access to a place if needed.
“If critical workers can work from home and care for their children at the same time, they should do so, but otherwise this provision is in place to enable them to provide life-saving services.”
The DfE also said schools should “strongly encourage” vulnerable children to attend class.
Vulnerable children could include “students who may have difficulty engaging in distance education at home” due to a lack of devices or a quiet space to study, according to the advice.
But government guidelines say parents who choose to keep children out of the classroom will not be penalized.
What do the levels mean for schools?
The new lockdown measures mean the whole country will be subject to the same tougher measures, including the closure of all schools. This means that the tier system is not currently in place.
Mr Johnson said when announcing the school closures: “I want to stress that the problem is not that schools are not safe for children.
“The problem is that schools can nonetheless act as vectors of transmission, causing the virus to spread between households.”
However, the Prime Minister suggested England would revert to the regional level system when the lockdown ends, meaning schools can reopen if level rules stay the same. However, sources suggested that the levels could apply to the whole country, rather than the geographic area.
“The appetite for regional levels will only come if you have large swathes of the country where the number of cases and new numbers of cases and hospitalizations are significantly lower.” a source said.
Officials are believed to be prioritizing reopening schools before any further easing of restrictions, such as reopening hospitality and allowing family and friends to meet outside.
Learn more about the previous level system:
Are there any changes to the exams?
Education secretary Gavin Williamson said GCSE, A-Level, and AS exams can take place after all.
Mr Williamson raised this possibility in a letter to the chief examining regulator on January 13. This contradicts his announcement on January 6 that exams will not take place this summer.
Mr Williamson explained that the replacement would be a “form of teacher-assessed grades, with training and support provided to ensure that these grades are awarded fairly and consistently across the country.”
However, the Education Secretary said on Jan. 13 that he “would like to explore the possibility of providing external tasks or documents.”
While teachers’ predicted grades will always be used, exams may be necessary so that teachers can “draw on this resource to support their student assessments,” he said.
Previously, Mr Williamson had told the House of Commons that while exams are the fairest way to test a student’s knowledge, the Covid pandemic means that it is “not possible to have exams this year “and ministers” will trust teachers rather than algorithms. ” .
The Education Department and Ofqual will launch a joint consultation on the plans later this week, and it will last a fortnight.
How will the tests in schools work?
In December, ministers said high school students and teachers could undergo daily lateral flow tests for a week if they come in close contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus.
That would mean children could continue their education in school rather than entire classes or age groups sent home to isolate themselves for 10 days.
But on January 20, a joint statement from Public Health England (PHE) and NHS Test and Trace said the balance between the risks and benefits of a daily testing program in schools was no longer clear and that the plans were on hold, due to the increased transmission rate and secondary attack rate observed in the new Covid variant.
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