Every college in England is set to receive 10 home testing kits and a “small amount” of PPE, the Department for Education has said.
Speaking the day after it was announced that students and staff in “high-risk” areas of the country should wear face coverings in communal college areas, education minister Nick Gibb said he hoped the kits and PPE would “provide reassurance to parents”.
He said: “All pupils are returning to school for the start of the autumn term - delivering on our national priority to get all pupils back to the classroom, which is the best place for their education, development and wellbeing.
“I have seen first hand the protective measures schools have put in place ahead of pupils returning, and the lengths they have gone to so that their pupils and staff are as safe as possible. This week schools and colleges will begin to receive their first home testing kits as well as personal protective equipment to use in the very rare situations in which it may be required.”
Colleges can request more home testing kits if required - but the DfE says they should only be “offered to individuals in the exceptional circumstance that colleges believe an individual may not be able to access a test elsewhere”.
The package of PPE - provided free of charge by the Department of Health and Social Care - will include clinical face masks, aprons, gloves, visors and hand sanitiser.
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