Covid-19 and schools: Could bubbles be scrapped

The Education Secretary Gavin Williamson says he wants school bubbles removed as quickly as possible

The man in charge of schools in England, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, has said he wants school bubbles in the country to be removed "as quickly as possible" as the number of pupils being sent home to self-isolate continues to rise.

His statement comes after the latest figures showed that more than 375,000 pupils - which is equal to about one in 20 - were not at school recently because of Covid-related reasons.

The number of children sent home increased by 400% during the last month, but only about 4% of pupils isolating were confirmed coronavirus cases. Most of the children were sent home because of a potential contact at school.

This has led to lots of criticism of the current system and questions have been raised around how well it's working.

The Labour party said schools needed immediate action to avoid "chaos" in the last weeks of term.

What did the education secretary say?

Mr Williamson said the easing of restrictions in schools could happen when other rules are relaxed in the country

Gavin Williamson said the easing of restrictions in schools could happen at the same time as the relaxation of other rules, in line with the government's roadmap. The roadmap explains how the country will come out of lockdown and remaining restrictions are expected to be eased on 19 July.

Responding to a question from the Labour party, Mr Williamson said he recognised the "frustration of parents and pupils who may feel like they're being asked to isolate unnecessarily".

However, the government hasn't confirmed whether bubbles will officially be scrapped, later this month or in September before the start of the new term.

Mr Williamson says he's working with the health secretary on changing how coronavirus is managed in schools. This could see more testing taking place.

What has the government said about bubbles?

The prime minister's official spokesperson said there was no requirement for an entire bubble to have to be sent home if someone in it tests positive for Covid, but only those in "close contact". However, not everyone feels the current rules are working well.

The shadow Education Secretary Kate Green, who is a member of the Labour party, said a new approach needed to be introduced soon.

"Action is needed now to protect the final weeks of learning this year," she said, warning that "changing restrictions for five days at the end of term will create more chaos for schools and families".

What else has been said about the school bubble system?

The current bubble system in schools has also been criticised as the government isn't able to say exactly how many Covid cases in England are being prevented by sending pupils home from school to self-isolate.

The BBC was told the government doesn't currently monitor how many children who are self-isolating end up getting coronavirus, which means it can't say how effective the bubbles have been so far.

This has led some to question whether all the disruption to education throughout the pandemic has had an actual impact on controlling the spread of the virus.

What's happening in the other nations?

Children attending school in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also in school bubbles at the moment.

Wales' Education Minister Jeremy Miles recently said he wants to minimise the number of children having to self-isolate from schools.

He said he wanted to make sure schools were not treating the individual contacts of a positive Covid-19 case and entire school bubbles the same way, "because they are importantly very separate".

Mr Miles also said that in the future, it would be up to individual schools, colleges and universities to decide their own Covid-safety rules. However, he made it clear that safety measures will not be completely relaxed ahead of the next school year.

"While we will not simply be back to normal by September, we will look to gradually ease the extraordinary measures we've had to put in place," he said.

The Scottish government says it's currently reviewing how bubbles and self-isolation will work for school children who'll be returning to classrooms in August.