GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE THAT OPENING SCHOOL IS SAFE
Responding to the evidence given today by Osama Rahman, Chief Scientific Adviser and Director of Analysis @EducationGovUK to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee about the basis for the Government’s plan to start to reopen schools from 1 June, Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary, said:
“The admissions by the Department for Education’s Chief Scientific Adviser are truly shocking and disturbing.
“The Government has simply not provided a single shred of evidence that opening schools from June 1st will be safe for children or for teachers.
“The Government’s health and safety guidance to make schools ‘COVID-19-secure’ is also woefully inadequate, and has done nothing to assure teachers or parents that it will be safe for schools to open to more children.
“Schools have been placed in a situation where the wrong decision will result in people becoming seriously ill and dying.
“The Government must now publish the scientific evidence it is relying on to claim that it will be safe for children to return to schools from June 1st.
“The NASUWT is clear that there is no requirement or obligation currently on any school to reopen to more pupils from 1st June.
“For the sake of public health, there must be no compromise on workplace health and safety.”
NASUWT RESPONDS TO DfE GUIDANCE ON SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND NURSERIES
NASUWT has reviewed the guidance issued by the Department for Education and is highlighting serious and fundamental concerns with it.
The guidance is inadequate, incomplete and lacks detail on a number of critical issues relating to health and safety of staff in schools and colleges. It is inconsistent with Government guidance that has already been issued for other workplaces and workers.
The scope of the Government proposals for nursery and primary school reopening are particularly concerning and whilst the proposals for secondary schools appear more limited, in all circumstances we believe there are serious health, safety and welfare issues for staff and pupils which have not been addressed.
NASUWT General Secretary Dr Patrick Roach said:
“In a situation where the wrong decision will result in people becoming seriously ill and dying, there can be no compromise on health and safety. If this means that schools are unable to open safely before September because they are unable to make arrangements to safeguard their staff and pupils, then that position must be accepted.
“We are reminding members there is no obligation on any schools to extend their opening arrangements. The 1 June 2020 is the date from from when schools may be able to extend their opening arrangements. It is neither a fixed nor hard and fast date by which all schools must open and there is no requirement or obligation currently on any school to reopen to more pupils from that date.
“Nothing that has been said by the Government or the DfE has changed the NASUWT’s position that no teacher should be expected to go into a school that is not safe and until it can be demonstrated that it is safe to do so and we will be continuing to support and advise members on that basis.”
Responses