Education is in danger of becoming the forgotten sector. What is the plan to give all year groups the chance to return to school (accepting that not all children will return)? Year 5 have their Sats next year. Year 2 are transitioning up into key stage two. Come July, teenagers will be able to have a beer in a pub garden, even fly abroad on a beach holiday and yet it is deemed dangerous to return to school.
What is the phased plan to get all children back to school? We hear no detail on this. We risk a lost generation of schoolchildren if we don’t get a plan in place. As a governor of a London primary school I feel strongly that education is being forgotten in the rush to unlock the economy. Parents can’t work effectively whilst home schooling. If we don’t trial kids back in school we will slip to September and be no further forward. You don’t wait for a fire to practise the fired drill. We have to test the system.
Vanessa Fawcett
Editor's reply
Dear Vanessa
Many parents are deeply disappointed that all children cannot go back to school until September. Only pupils in reception, year one and year six are now back, while children in years 10 and 12 should get some classes before the summer. In some families it means one child is getting hours of schooling a week while siblings get nothing. No firm catch-up plans have been announced, and it is the most disadvantaged who will be hit hardest. It is frustrating that there are more questions than answers.
Anna Davis, Education Editor
Brexit portent
Boris Johnson has the lowest approval rating worldwide. Most recent debacles include test and trace, promised by the Prime Minister for June 1 as a “world leading system”, now delayed until September. Having screwed up the handling of Covid so badly, how can Boris Johnson be trusted to manage Brexit?
Andrew Milroy
