No decision will be made about schools reopening until after Christmas following the postponement of a meeting between Boris Johnson and the Department for Education, reports suggest.
The prime minister was due to discuss children’s return to the classroom this week, but the meeting was reportedly pushed back as speculation grew that a Brexit deal was close to being announced.
Ministers are understood to be considering whether youngsters should be taught from home for the start of term amid concerns over rising cases linked to a fast-spreading Covid-19 variant.
Mr Johnson said earlier this week that he wants schools to open as planned at the start of January, but added that measures were being kept ‘under constant review’ as the government ‘follows the path of the pandemic’.
Labour’s shadow education secretary Kate Green and shadow schools minister Wes Streeting have written to Gavin Williamson urging him to provide answers for parents, students and staff about reopening schools.
They say questions on the return of students and evidence about the spread of Covid-19 among young people must be answered now – ‘not a matter of hours or days’ before children are due to return to class.
Communities Minister Robert Jenrick said yesterday that classes would restart in person in ‘the first few weeks of January’.
However, Downing Street sources told MailOnline it was ‘too early’ to guarantee all pupils would be back in their classrooms by January 11, adding the reopening of schools was now ‘all down to the science’ surrounding the new strain’s behaviour and how it affects young people.
The Telegraph reported that one option under consideration is keeping schools closed for the whole of January amid concerns the variant can infect children more easily.
But Department for Education sources told Tes, formerly the Times Educational Supplement, that ‘nobody within the DfE wants that’.
Another source said the department was split between those wishing to see what happens with cases over the festive period and others pushing for a decision to be made.
They added: ‘A final decision has not been made yet.
‘I think there are basically two camps. One which thinks we should wait to see what happens with case numbers over Christmas time because over the two weeks it could resolve itself, and then another camp which thinks that this will not resolve itself over two weeks, that the situation could get worse and that a decision needs be made to move schools online.’
A government spokesperson told Tes: ‘We want all pupils to return in January as school is the best place for their development and mental health, but, as the prime minister has said, it is right that we follow the path of the pandemic and keep our approach under constant review.’
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