A group of MPs has called for the closure of schools to form a “significant part” of the UK’s Covid-19 inquiry.
The initial aims of the inquiry, which is being chaired by retired judge Baroness Hallett and will examine “preparations and the response to the pandemic” in the UK, were published last week.
The terms are being consulted on until early April, but include just one reference to education, mentioning the “restrictions on attendance at places of education”.
Today, the Commons Education Select Committee - a cross-party group of MPs that scrutinises government education policy - has written to the inquiry’s chair and asked that a “significant part” of the inquiry focuses on school closures.
It asks the inquiry to consider whether closures were an “effective and proportionate response” to the pandemic, and to look at the impact on mental health and wellbeing and the “impact on young people’s life chances”.
The letter, penned by committee chair Robert Halfon, also said that the inquiry should consider whether schools should be classified as “essential infrastructure” alongside power stations and hospitals, to ensure that they remain open in any future pandemic.
It added that the inquiry should consider whether or not the children’s commissioner should have a say in whether future school closures are necessary.
The letter said: “As our committee has repeatedly heard in evidence sessions over the last two years, the closure of schools and the restrictions placed on educational settings has been nothing short of a national disaster for children and young people, not only in terms of their educational attainment, but also with regards to their mental health and wellbeing, their life chances and their safety.
“Starting from the beginning of life, even babies and young children have missed out on key development opportunities due to the impact of Covid-19.”
Speaking in a committee hearing this morning, schools minister Robin Walker said it was “right that it [the Covid-19 inquiry] should look into the impact on children across the piece”, appearing to support the request.
Schools in England were closed for all pupils, aside from vulnerable children and those of key workers, in March 2020.
They then reopened in September 2020, but moved to remote learning for most pupils in a new national lockdown in January 2021.
The Covid inquiry aims to produce a factual narrative account of the country’s Covid response and impact of the pandemic, as well as identifying lessons learned, to help the UK prepare for future pandemics.
