Boris Johnson: School openings will be constantly reviewed
- Published
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the opening of schools across the country will be kept under constant review over the next few weeks.
Secondary schools, colleges and primary schools in London and some in the South East of England will remain closed when term starts this week, with learning being moved online.
Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr, Boris Johnson has said schools are safe places for teachers and pupils, and parents should not worry about sending children to lessons.
"The risk to children is very, very low", he said, adding that benefit of education "is so huge".
Schools will remain open to vulnerable children and pupils whose parents or guardians are key workers.
At the moment there are no plans to keep primary schools in other tier four areas in England closed.
Many secondary schools will introduce regular mass testing when they reopen later in the month in order to try and keep schools open over the next few weeks.
Find out which areas of England are affected by delayed opening.
In Wales, local councils have been told they can be "flexible" with when schools open.
The government has said the majority of students will learn remotely before returning to classrooms by 11 January. A full return to the classroom is expected to be completed by 18 January.
In Northern Ireland, primary school pupils will be taught online until the 11th of January.
In Scotland, schools will reopen on 11 January for the majority of pupils, with learning taking place online between the 11 and 15 January before face to face teaching resumes for all children from 18 January.
Arguments about school closures
Teaching unions have said closing all schools in England for a period of two weeks is the "the only sensible and credible option".
The NASUWT, has written to the education secretary, Gavin Williams, calling for an "immediate nationwide move to remote education" for all pupils.
Unions representing teachers and headteachers in Wales have called for all face-to-face teaching to be suspended and have suggested they will take "appropriate action in order to protect members whose safety is put at risk".
But, the head of England's schools watchdog has said closing schools should be kept to a minimum.
Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman said closing schools "puts children's lives on hold".
Mr Williamson said the London-wide closures were a "last resort and a temporary solution" to help tackle the particularly high infection rates in the capital.
"We must make this move to protect our country and the NHS. We will continue to keep the list of local authorities under review, and reopen classrooms as soon as we possibly can," he said.
What is the impact of the variant?
The UK's top children's doctors have said that there has been no rise in the severity of Covid-19 cases in children because of the new strain, or variant, of the virus.
There is evidence the new strain of the virus spreads between people more easily, but top scientists says it is no more dangerous and the "assumption" is that the vaccines scientists have developed will still be effective against it.
- Published4 January 2021
