Yesterday, the government announced that secondary schools across most of England are to remain closed for an extra two weeks for most pupils, to help regain control of coronavirus and give them more time to set up mass testing plans.
In areas with the highest infection rates, primary schools would also remain closedtemporarily – these areas include most of London, much of Essex and Kent, Hastings and Rother in East Sussex, Milton Keynes and parts of Hertfordshire.
It comes after warnings from medics and scientists about pressure on hospitals and the increasing contagiousness of the new strain of coronavirus. But many are angry the announcement has come too late and left people in the lurch. One teaching union labelled it a ‘last-minute mess’ and parents are worried about what this will mean for childcare arrangements.
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Samantha, who has two children in primary school in London, blames the Government.
‘Yet again Government mismanagement has led to children missing out on their education,’ she says. ‘The Government has known about the new variant for a long time but instead pressed ahead with Christmas relaxation plans and didn’t extend the November lockdown, which may have helped. Just a few weeks ago, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson was threatening to sue schools for not staying open and now they drop this on us five days before the start of term. While the new variant is certainly real, I put responsibility for this latest shambles firmly at the Government’s door.’
I put responsibility for this latest shambles firmly at the government’s door.
With grandparentsoften out of the picture, mums are set to feel the strain again. Anna Lea-Wilson, a mother of three in London who runs her own business, as well as doing freelance interior design work, says she feels ‘totally floored’ by the announcement and the knock-on effect it will have on her work.
‘It’s been nine months of juggling and mentally readjusting to new circumstances trying to balance work, kids and risk. The school closure makes my working January almost impossible with three young kids at home, and there is no one I can pass work to. I feel the government gambled with kids’ education to gain popularity over saving Christmas and ending lockdown early December. If we’d lockdowned for longer then when the new strain was spreading, then schools probably could’ve stayed open. It’s a complete nightmare, the last nine months have been so incredibly hard for working families and this will probably finish me off.’
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However, Lela, a mum of two, also in London, says she doesn’t see an alternative.
'Like many parents, I'd hoped never to have to repeat our home-schooling experiment of last Spring and Summer. I'm dismayed and in despair that the infection rate has now climbed so high in our local area that the closure of primary school closures has become necessary again. But given the seriousness of the situation, I'm resigned to the idea that there's currently no alternative,’ she says.
There’s also been confusion and concern about what to do with children who aren’t yet school age. Rosie, whose two-year-old son is in nursery in London, says pre-school is always treated as an after-thought.
‘They NEVER mention nurseries, so you know you're going to have to wait a few hours for them to actually update their Government websites, or you'll get an email from the nursery if they're on it. This time around I only found out nurseries would stay open because someone tweeted a Government doc eventually - and I'm still a bit confused and wondering if our nursery will definitely be ok.’
She says the only thing she’s sure about is that the staff at nurseries and schools are doing everything they can to keep children safe and educated the best they can. ‘The weak link here is the Government,’ she adds.
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