Millions of children might not be able to go back to school full-time in September, the government has admitted – despite zoos and drive-in cinemas opening from Monday.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson admitted yesterday that the ‘ambition’ of getting all primary age children back in class for a month before the summer break had been ditched just weeks after it was set.
And Government sources refused to confirm that all children at either primary or secondary schools will be able to go back full-time after the August summer break, merely saying they hoped ‘more’ could return.
Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield accused ministers of ‘furloughing childhood’ and said she was ‘incredibly concerned’ zoos, pubs and theme parks now looked set to reopen before most schools.
Tory MPs are among those who have demanded a route map to get children back to school. Robert Halfon, chair of the education select committee, warned there would be an ‘epidemic of educational poverty’ without more assistance for the vulnerable.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson admitted yesterday that the ‘ambition’ of getting all primary age children back in class for a month before the summer break had been ditched just weeks after it was set
Mr Murray said his teenage daughter had been invited to an end-of-year picnic despite having no lessons while the school remains closed. Pictured: Reception pupils from Landywood Primary School in Staffordshire take part in a socially-distanced outdoor exercise
Fellow Conservative Tim Loughton said summer schools could use students who are delaying going to university.
The Government’s two-metre social distancing rules and advice from Public Health England – that class sizes should be limited to 15 – are believed to be the major obstacles to getting more children back.
Mr Johnson is coming under growing pressure to ease the rules.
The PM will front the Downing Street briefing this evening and is expected to confirm zoos, safari parks and drive-in cinemas can reopen in England from June 15.
It comes a day after Business Secretary Alok Sharma confirmed shops would also be able to reopen on the same day as the Government seeks to kick-start the economy.
But Mr Williamson was forced to admit defeat over plans for all primary pupils in England to attend classes before the summer break.
Meanwhile health bosses have raised concerns that around 10 million people will be on the waiting list for NHS treatment by the end of the year – more than double the current figure – due to a combination of social distancing measures, a backlog of treatments and staffing shortages.
The PM, who will face a grilling from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday at Prime Minister’s Questions, will reopen outdoor attractions where people remain in their cars, such as safari parks and drive-in cinemas, because the risk of spreading the disease is lower outside.
A Downing Street official said: ‘People are continuing to make huge sacrifices to reduce the spread of coronavirus and avoid a second spike, but we know it is tough and where we can safely open up more attractions, and it is supported by the science, we will do so.’
Questions remain, however, over returning pupils to school with a number of councils, including in the north west of England, opposing plans to widely reopen after new data suggested coronavirus could still be spreading in their local areas.
Children in nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 in England began returning to primary school last week after the Government eased lockdown measures.
But some schools said they did not have enough space on site to admit all pupils in the eligible year groups, while adhering to Government guidance to limit class sizes to 15 and encourage fewer interactions.
Mr Williamson said the Government would like to see schools who ‘have the capacity’ bring back more pupils where possible before the summer break but conceded the Government was ‘working to bring all children back to school in September’.
Former education secretary Lord Blunkett said there was a lack of ambition being shown by the Government in ensuring pupils get back to school.
The Labour peer told BBC Radio 4’s World At One: ‘To be honest, I think it is a lack of will, it is a lack of ‘can do’.
‘It is a failure to do what we have already done with the health service and economy, which is to say there are challenges, there are real problems but we are going as a nation to seek to overcome them.
Gary Murray, who has two daughters aged 15 and eight, said: ‘The question I feel a lot of parents want answering is; what is going to be different if they go back in September to what is different to them going back to school now?’. Pictured: Children at a French bilingual school in Fulham, London, use hoops for social distancing
‘Why is it that other countries, not just in Europe but across the world, can have the ambition to get their children, in all kinds of creative ways, back into school and we can’t?
‘I can only conclude that the Government is losing the plot.’
The trained teacher added: ‘I just know that we’ve got to do this. If we can set up the Nightingale hospitals in the time we did, why on Earth can’t we invest in the future of our children?’
Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis academy chain, told the BBC there should be a Nightingale-style drive to use community halls and churches for teaching children.
‘I think there are other ways around dealing with this as well because what the Government has said about bringing children back – keeping them two metres apart, socially distanced but bringing them back – well, of course it is not possible to bring all children back into a school building and keep the social distancing – it is an oxymoron, you can’t do both things,’ he said.
‘But in any community there are other buildings that can be used – community halls, churches and other faith groups’ buildings, hotels.
‘We’ve explored conversations with some people like that so you can bring children back in and use those buildings because their emotional and social development is so important.’
Shops will only be able to reopen if they have completed a Covid-19 risk assessment and can implement social distancing measures.
But other businesses, including pubs, restaurants and hairdressers, will remain shut until July 4 at the earliest, Mr Sharma said.
It comes as hospitality chiefs have warned the rule requiring people to stay two metres apart could jeopardise firms’ ability to reopen, with some asking for the distance to be halved.
Mr Sharma said the rule was being kept under review and ‘when it is safe to do so, we will see whether you can move to a shorter distance’.