‘Is it safe for our children to return to school amid coronavirus pandemic’?

The Covid-19 battle may be won in our hospitals yet the battle is just about to begin in the classrooms and assembly halls in our primary schools, and parents are asking ‘are schools safe?’

Before Covid 19 some learning was taking place at home as this is legally acceptable. As a result of the lockdown, more learning has been taking place at home and there are many parents who have risen to the challenge and have been innovative and creative although there have been many who have struggled.

The current Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Willliamson has said that teachers are letting parents and pupils down if they do not open their doors.

It has been largely left to Michael Gove, who himself held the education post from 2010 to 2014, to try to bring some form of credibility to the reopening of schools.

Mr Gove stepped back into the limelight on The Andrew Marr Show to say that schools are not the sources of infection. He forget one word. Yet. We are aware that schools have been open all along and school staff have done what has been asked of them without question. Is Mr Gove’s statement predicated by the fact that there is uncertainly as to whether the infection can be transmitted from child to child?

He must therefore be unaware of the growing concern by medical experts about the increase of severe sickness in some youngsters with what is known to be associated only with Kawasaki disease.

Even the Government’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said ‘this is very rare situation and it is entirely plausible that this is caused by the Covid-19 at least in some cases (The Guardian, April 27).

The Daily Mail went further on the same day to say that officials have yet to offer any clarity on this issue, and other publications and networks, namely the New York Times, Euronews and CNBC have headlined the concerns.

There are now numerous under-nines in Northern Italy displaying Covid-19 type symptoms, which has resulted in Italian medical experts investigating a possible link between the coronavirus pandemic and clusters of severe inflammatory diseases amongst infants who are arriving in hospitals with high fevers and swollen arteries.

There will be parents who are not satisfied that schools are safe and may prefer to continue to educate their children at home, irrespective of any possible underachieving. This new form of ‘home learning’ may continue for a very long time, until schools can be proved to be safe for both children and staff alike.