School leaders condemn ‘headlong rush’ to scrap Covid testing and isolation

Lack of clarity will cause conflict between schools and parents, teaching unions warn

School leaders have criticised Boris Johnson’s plan to scrap Covid self-isolation rules and end regular testing of pupils in England, with the plans described as a “headlong rush” out of restrictions.

The prime minister told the Commons on Monday that the government was removing the guidance for staff and students to undertake regular, twice-weekly testing when asymptomatic.

But teachers’ leaders and school leaders have said the “living with Covid” announcement could cause further disruption – and create conflict between schools and parents.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the announcement felt like a “headlong rush”, not a “sensibly phased approach”, adding: “Saying that [Covid] is at an end does not make it so”.

Mr Barton said that in removing legal requirements to self-isolate following a positive test, along with twice-weekly testing, there was a risk of increased disruption if more positive cases came into classrooms.

“Staff and pupils are often absent not just because they test positive but because they are actually ill with the coronavirus and this will obviously not abate if there is more transmission,” he said.

“We are also concerned about where this leaves vulnerable staff and pupils, or those with a household member who is vulnerable,” he added. “These individuals will inevitably feel more scared and less protected by the relaxation.”

Mr Barton that the change in rules requiring isolation also opened the door for conflict between schools and parents, where families interpreted symptoms that may or may not be coronavirus “differently from their child’s teachers”.

“The goal must be to keep children in the classroom for as much of the time as possible. This plan does not seem to meet that objective and may in fact be counter-productive.”

Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, also said that “it is not the case that we have defeated Covid, nor that everyone can ‘live’ with it”.

Dr Bousted said that schools needed to know whether chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty and the chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance supported the move to end isolation for those testing positive with Covid, which will come into place from Thursday.

“It is vital that public health, not political considerations, decide that date. We also want to know if the government is planning any further investment in measures such as improved ventilation,” she said

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said that the announcement potentially had “an enormous impact" on schools but that there was now a need for swift, “clear and unambiguous guidance”.

The school leaders’ chief said it was “crucial” that lateral flow tests remained free for pupils, otherwise the consequences for “disadvantaged pupils, in particular, could be severe”.

Meanwhile, Steve Chalke, the founder of the Oasis academy trust of dozens of schools across England, said the prime minister’s decision was a “huge gamble”.

I think it will become a forced form of exclusion of those who are vulnerable, those immunosuppressed children and staff who are put at increased risk,” Mr Chalke told The Guardian.

He added: “I think we will see a group of children turning away from education. It will lead to a further rise in home education … All of this will play together in some unhelpful ways.”