Last week, following news of the Indian variant “clearly occurring within schools and into the community all across England”, school staff unions including the NEU, NASUWT and Unison wrote to schools calling on them to keep a requirement for students to wear face masks until 21st June.
Commenting on the letter, Peter Shreeve, Assistant District Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“Ending the requirement for masks to be worn in secondary schools from today (Monday) appears “premature” and lacking in “empathy and understanding” particularly in light of rising cases of the variant.
“Why do this now, when half-term is only two weeks away? That’s three weeks of extra mitigation. Moreover, the time when post-exam students leave schools is nearer, thereby decreasing numbers in buildings and enabling better social distancing.”
Shreeve: This hardly feels cautious or well considered
He went on to add,
“Government constantly champions caution. Last weekend the Prime Minister repeated his call for a “heavy dose of caution”. A cautious action is careful and well considered. As the Government’s own Sage committee had also advised ministers to keep the face covering recommendation in place beyond 17th May , this hardly feels cautious or well considered.
“Increasing vaccinations and relative low rates of death have led to growing optimism. We had tiers, which no longer appear to be government policy since 12th April. Now they appear to be steps within the roadmap and feel somewhat weakened.”
Mr Shreeve continued,
“Admittedly, there is a wide spectrum of feeling around mask wearing, but it’s certainly a puzzle – not requiring pupils to wear masks, no matter whether they are 11- or 18-year-old, when face masks are still required in other indoor spaces like shops, restaurants, cinemas and transport including dedicated school transport.
“As for allowing school trips with overnight stays from today. This is a distraction – it takes weeks to organise this type of trip. The possibility of local lockdowns exist. Desirable and educative trips abroad look fraught with uncertainty.”
Shreeve: “The Island does not exist in a vacuum”
He finished by saying
“While mask removal will no doubt improve social interaction in the short term, there is evidential uncertainty and insufficient clarity over any consequences.
“Whilst the R rate is much lower on the Island (0.8-1.0 in the South East), there are still significant regional variations and elsewhere the R rate is still up to 1.1. We need to remember that the Island does not exist in a vacuum. We should remember last year and how quickly the Island moved from tier 1 to tier 4.”
