The schools minister has said there is no “specific threshold” for Covid infection that would result in schools closing their doors and moving to online learning.
Robin Walker MP was questioned about keeping schools open by MPs at the Commons Education Select Committee today.
He also told the hearing that he would support reducing the coronavirus isolation period from seven days to five days if the science supported it.
When asked by the committee’s acting chairman, Ian Mearns MP, what the threshold is for the department to consider it necessary to close schools, Mr Walker said: “We haven’t set a specific threshold. We have looked at various different scenarios. What we have seen actually is schools managing extremely effectively where necessary to reallocate staffing.
“Of course, there have been periods where some classes, because of very high levels of infection, have had to be sent home and there have been some decisions by local directors of public health.
“But what we have seen so far is an extraordinary resilience in the school system and we want to do everything we can to support that and to lean in to that. That is why we reopened the Covid workforce fund which runs at least until the February half term.”
Minister backs reducing length of isolation
Mr Walker told the committee that he would support cutting the time people with Covid-19 had to spend in self-isolation if scientists recommended a reduction.
He said: “You’ll have seen all the debates about seven days versus five days etc, I think if the scientific advice shows that five days is safe, I would welcome a move in that direction.”
When asked whether schools would remain open for the remainder of the year, Mr Walker told MPs: “This is an absolute priority for us.”
He added: “We want to do everything we can to support schools to remain open.
“We have seen, of course, huge challenges and I’m extremely grateful to school leaders and teachers for the immense amount of work that they put in to keep schools open.
“What we’ve seen so far this year is some challenging levels of staff absence, but actually less, slightly less, than we have been projecting before the end of the year.”
MPs told exams still expected to go ahead
Mr Walker also said the expectation was that exams will go ahead. But he said the decision was “constantly under review”.
“There is work on the contingencies and we are working with Ofqual on what to do if teacher assessed grades are put in place,” he said.
This comes as the government announced yesterday that more than 40,000 teachers and school leaders were absent last week.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said he welcomed the advance information on exam content as a way to help students amid education disruption.
He said: “It is possible that further disruption to education, particularly if there was once again to be a full lockdown with students being taught remotely, may make it impossible to conduct public exams fairly because students will have been affected so variably and significantly.
“This might then necessitate a move to teacher assessed grades for the third year in a row. It would be difficult to establish a specific trigger point for this to happen because there are so many factors involved.
“We would, however, expect the government to continue to monitor the situation very closely, and maintain a dialogue with the profession to inform decision-making on this issue.”
