Pass it On?

The plan, in England, to try to re-open primary schools by 1st June is a bit contentious (https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/may/15/when-will-schools-reopen-uk-children-safe-coronavirus). It is certainly true that disrupting schooling is not good for the educational development of children (more so in the case of disadvantaged groups, who are less likely to be well catered for at home) but there are many unanswered questions at present that might make the move problematic. It appears that healthy children generally have a milder response to Covid-19 than adults (children with underlaying conditions are exempt from the plan). We do not know, however, whether children can be asymptomatic spreaders of the virus. Social distancing is next to impossible in a school setting (especially with very young children). Although some tweaks in procedures may help contain potential viral spread, infections may well be passed between children, as well as to the adults (teachers and support staff) that they meet in that setting. When teachers and pupils return home to their families, they could also carry the virus there, generating a second peak. I have not seen that special consideration will be given to teachers and support staff with underlaying medical conditions and wearing of personal protective equipment is hardly likely to improve adult-pupil bonding. The other UK countries (Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) are not going down this route until September at the earliest. It could be argued that we would all do well to see what the experiences of Denmark and Germany (both ahead of us in the pandemic) are, as they re-open their schools. One can't help but feel that the English rush to re-open, is more designed to free up sectors of the work force to return to economic activity, rather than an expression of real concern for educational standards.