A TEACHER has revealed his fears to send his daughter back to school as the UK Government hopes to get primary school children back in classrooms by next month.
Teacher and parent, John, is ‘petrified’ to send his daughter back to school after teacher union leaders have questioned the safety of pupils from coronavirus in classrooms. John explained even though it is highly unlikely his daughter could die, he doesn’t want to risk it. His comments come as Boris Johnson has been accused of ‘moving too quickly’ by some teaching unions.
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Speaking to LBC, John said: “I’m petrified walking around the shops. I’m on edge going to different places.”
Host Rachel Johnson asked: “Don’t you think it’s important that your daughter gets education?
“It’s been assessed as a key point in education and otherwise she could be out of school from March to September.”
John replied: “It’s vitally important, I can’t question it and I understand something has to happen.
“But it’s still hard knowing how important it is to allow her to go in.
“They might say it’ll only affect a very, very small amount of children in a bad way but the idea that it might be my one.
“It doesn’t matter how many it is, if it’s my one it’s a massive deal to me.”
He added: “There’s no right answer. I know for a fact my little one needs to go in.
Ministers and teaching unions have been urged to “stop squabbling” and to work together to begin reopening schools in England.
Anne Longfield, the children’s commissioner for England, said many children were struggling away from the classroom and the lack of education would impact on future life chances.
Her intervention came amid fears that Boris Johnson – who wants primary schools to begin opening their gates from June 1 – has moved too quickly with measures this week to ease the coronavirus lockdown in England.
With another weekend of fine weather expected, there are concerns in some rural communities that the relaxation of restrictions on movement would see an influx of visitors bringing the risk of a new infection.
Meanwhile, a meeting on Friday between teaching unions and Government scientific advisers intended to reassure staff that it was safe to go back to the classroom ended inconclusively.
The union representatives said they had been left with more questions than answers, with one union leader describing the scientific evidence as “flimsy at best”.
They were backed by the doctors’ union – the British Medical Association – which said schools should not reopen until the numbers of coronavirus cases were “much lower”.
However, Ms Longfield insisted the decision by ministers to start bringing back primary pupils was “sensible” and said there should be an “aspiration” to get all children back in school before the summer.
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