Criticism of the British Government's decision to keep schools and colleges open during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to rise. Boris Johnson said that closing schools will do more harm than good as he believed that it was not the appropriate time for such measures.
On Monday, the hashtags #Covid19Walkout and #CloseTheSchoolsNow were trending on Twitter as lesser-affected countries across the world have already shut down their educational institutions. For instance, Ireland announced the closure of schools and colleges for a fortnight on Saturday.
Students posted pictures of crowded corridors and classrooms and expressed concerns over their inability to follow the government’s recommendations of social distancing. Educational institutions have raised alarms over their inability to continue operations due to a significant number of staff members being asked to self-quarantine.
Leora Cruddas, the Chief Executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, said, “It is important to understand that all the big decisions about school closures, exams and the suspension of inspections can only be made by the government.” Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of NAHT, said that while teachers are concerned about the impact of the crisis on exams and assessments, the priority should be to keep children safe.
A petition signed with over 590,000 signatures has been uploaded on the parliament’s website calling for the government to close schools and colleges amidst the international health emergency. Any petition with over 100,000 signatures must be considered for parliamentary debate. Various school representatives will also be meeting with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to discuss the impact of closing schools and postponing exams.
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