Will the government U-turn again on schools?

Unions are demanding all schools across the country close but the government so far is remaining firm, writes Ashley Cowburn

Bonner Primary School in Tower Hamlets, east London (PA)

Welcoming in the new year, the education secretary Gavin Williamson declined to break with the tradition of eleventh-hour U-turns that seemingly characterised the government’s approach to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

With just days remaining until primary schools are due to reopen their doors after the Christmas break and rapidly rising transmissions of Covid-19, the Department for Education opted to override a schools’ policy announced just three days ago.

Under the initial plan, secondary schools and colleges were set to be closed for two weeks at the start of term while some primary schools in London were still being asked to reopen their doors on 4 January.

But on Friday evening, Mr Williamson said all primaries in the capital would join those in 50 local authorities that had already been ordered to remain closed and switch to remote learning until 18 January, in what he described as a “last resort and temporary solution”.

It comes after councils threatened legal action and the latest minutes published by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said that it was “highly unlikely” that measures similar to the restrictions imposed in November, with schools open, would be “sufficient” to maintain the R rate of transmission below 1.

“R would be lower with schools closed, with closure of secondary schools likely to have a greater effect than closure of primary schools,” the scientists said on 22 December.

“It remains difficult to distinguish where transmission between children takes place, and it is important to consider contacts made outside of schools.”

While Mr Williamson’s U-turn was welcomed in some quarters, the leaders of the biggest education unions in the country are urging him to go further and close all schools across England until at least the middle of January.

The National Education Union (NEU) has described ministers’ approach to schools as “reckless” and has advised its members of their rights not to return to the classroom while the NASUWT has written to the education secretary calling for an “immediate nationwide move to remote education” for all pupils in England.

The calls have (so far) been met with silence from the government, and the Department for Education has not responded to the unions’ demands. Unlike other high-profile government U-turns, however, the Labour frontbench has (so far) not piled on the political pressure at Westminster by calling for a delay in the reopening of schools – much to the dismay of some on the left of the party.

Instead, Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, claimed on Friday evening the government had created a “chaos” with the U-turn in London and urged ministers to “clarify” why some schools in tier 4 are closing and what the criteria would be for reopening. The party is yet to respond to the unions’ calls.

With just one day remaining until primary schools outside London begin welcoming back children from the Christmas holidays, ministers will be adamant that the policy remains and Mr Williamson stressed just yesterday: “Children’s education and wellbeing remains a national priority."

We’ll hear from the prime minister on Sunday when he appears on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show but, given the government’s approach to a whole host of issues, including the exams fiasco and the scrapping of Christmas, cancelling the plans for millions just days before the holidays, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that another U-turn could be in store.