The UK Prime Minister seems to be pretty insistent that all children in English schools must be back in education by the start of term in September (https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/children-back-to-school-september-coronavirus-boris-johnson-a4531376.html). Government advisers have even gone so far as to claim a) that it is more dangerous for children to be at home and b) they are more likely to die in a road accident on the way to school, than by getting a Covid-19 infection. I agree that it is important to try to restart the educational process, especially for disadvantaged but bright children (many of them were not well catered for in the lockdown). It is also difficult for many parents to return to working normally with their children away from schools. Having said that, even though a majority of young people do not appear to be seriously endangered by this viral infection, it is not yet certain that they are unlikely to pass the infection on to adults around them (parents, grandparents, teachers and ancillary staff). Rates of transmission could be low but there would be many more interactions between people after a return to school. There is also a debate brewing about whether or not older pupils should be required to wear face masks (as seems to be likely in Scotland). The timing of the return must also thrown into doubt by news that pupils in South Korea (a country usually held up as a paragon of virtue in its response to the pandemic) are going back to on-line teaching for most age groups because infection levels are rising again.
No comments:
Post a Comment