Covid: School classroom face mask rules 'must be scrapped'

Rules requiring secondary school pupils to wear masks in class must be scrapped with "immediate effect", the children's commissioner for Wales has said.

Currently children aged over 11 must wear face coverings in Welsh schools, including while in class.

Sally Holland said restrictions on children in schools were "out of sync" with freedoms afforded to adults.

The Welsh government said talks had begun with schools to allow them to decide their own safety rules.

Education Minister Jeremy Miles has said schools and colleges should be allowed to escalate or drop measures, such as wearing face masks and social distancing, according to local case rates.

It does not mean those safety measures - which are currently subject to national guidance - will be totally scrapped.

However, on Monday the minister said he wanted them to "gradually ease", with schools running as normal as possible in the autumn.

Under Welsh government guidance people are urged not to sing or shout in pubs, but do not need to wear masks while seated and eating and drinking

Prof Holland said the restrictions on pupils requiring them to wear face masks in classrooms were not in line with current guidance for adults, and needed to end.

"Adults in Wales can sit in a pub with friends from six households, without wearing a face covering, while most of our secondary pupils are required to wear face coverings all day, every day, whilst seated, despite known impacts on their learning," she said. She said if it was not possible to scrap them immediately, then the masks should be scrapped in classrooms by the start of next term.

Prof Holland also called for the end of mass self-isolation requirements, claiming they were detrimental to young people.

The most recent figures from 24 June show 12,645 pupils were absent from school for a Covid-related reason, or 3.2% of pupils in Wales. 

Groups of children, called bubbles, have been told to isolate when cases have been identified in their schools.

That can involve entire year groups having to stay home, and in the most recent week, Public Health Wales figures show 411 pupils and staff have tested positive for Covid-19.

This is up from 292 in the previous seven days.

The highest numbers remain in north Wales, where 206 cases have been confirmed in schools.

Prof Holland called for a more "targeted approach" similar to the one being currently trialled in England.

The pilot scheme in England has been using daily testing in response to Covid cases, rather than a wider group of pupils having to isolate.

On Monday, Mr Miles said the Welsh government would be looking at "best practice across Wales to ensure that we do not have a disproportionate number of learners self-isolating". However, unions and opposition politicians have called for clarity over the plans, calling the announcement confusing.

The Welsh government said: "Schools will be supported by public health officials to ensure measures are appropriate to each school's own circumstances. "Discussions have already began with schools and other partners on plans to enable schools to escalate and de-escalate Covid measures, to ensure we all have the confidence in this new way of working."

The Welsh Conservatives said masks were a "big barrier" to the learning environment.

Education spokeswoman Laura Anne Jones said: "The rules in place seem out of kilter with those in other areas of society and Labour ministers should listen to the children's commissioner, and their own scientific advisors who say they're doing more harm than good, and drop the requirement for masks in classrooms immediately."