Brewing battle with unions as Johnson fights to get Britain back to school

Administrations across the Union are now focused on returning children to full-time education. In Scotland, thousands of students are already returning to the classroom under plans for a phased re-opening of schools, with all schools intended to be fully open by August 18. In Northern Ireland, key groups will be asked to attend school from August 24, and in Wales, schools have been encouraged to focus on key groups from September 1, before reopening for all year groups two weeks later.

In England the Prime Minister has set a September return to education as the number one challenge for his government. On a visit to a London school on Monday, Johnson said: “It’s not right that kids should spend more time out of school, it’s much, much better for their health and mental wellbeing, and obviously their educational prospect, if everybody comes back to school full-time in September. It’s our moral duty as a country to make sure that happens.”

The government has been spurred by the increasing weight of scientific evidence showing that young children are less likely to transmit coronavirus. A review of 18 studies has suggested that children might be half as likely as adults to pass on the virus. On Monday, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson suggested that an upcoming Public Health England study, based on the thousands of pupils who returned to school in June, will show that there is little risk in returning in September.

These positive claims have not come without controversy, however. The Times reported on Tuesday that the Public Health England study cited by Williamson also shows a distinction between younger and older students. While those in primary school are indeed less likely to transmit the virus, secondary school pupils have a similar rate of transmission to adults. For that reason, researchers conducting the study are reported to be unhappy about the way ministers have represented their preliminary results.

The health distinction between primary and secondary students raises a serious dilemma for the government, for it is also a distinction between the least and most exam-intensive year groups. As last week’s exams fiasco in Scotland showed – and results in England on Thursday will likely show – the ability of students to sit exams is critical to our education infrastructure. Without exams, the transition between key stages breaks down. The alternative, predicted grades, entrench class divisions by devaluing talented students in deprived areas based on the wider performance of their schools.

Downing Street, apparently acknowledging the harm this could cause, has asked Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, to carry out a rapid evaluation of the research on schools in order to provide parents with more reassurance before the new term starts next month. It is a risky move, as Whitty has not been prone to sugar-coating scientific evidence in the past; he will tell it as it is, regardless of the consequences for education.

In any case, the Prime Minister intends to stick to his pledge. Sources in government have suggested they’d be willing to restrict parts of the hospitality industry to accommodate schools. The belief is that closing pubs, for instance, would increase the government’s R-budget, making room for mini-outbreaks to occur in schools without affecting the national picture. This consideration shows not just how serious the government is about reviving education, but also how sceptical it is about a return to normality anytime soon.

The hope in June was that the reopening of schools in September would trigger a substantial economic recovery, with parents more likely to return to their offices and post-school leisure patterns partially returning. The talk now is of trading in recently recovered freedoms for the value of a full-time education for our children. It is a fundamentally different conversation, and one that the public will not take kindly to.

Questions will be asked of the Test, Track and Trace system, which was designed to prevent precisely this sort of dilemma. Experts have long been saying that a comprehensive test and trace operation in each school is a prerequisite for a safe return to education, and received assurances from Health Secretary Matt Hancock that a “world-leading” system would be delivered by the fall.

After weeks of disappointing results, however, the government on Monday acknowledged failure, at least tacitly, with the announcement that it would restructure the operation. Six thousand tracers will be sacked following reports that working in the system is like being “paid to watch Netflix” because of the low volume of calls conducted. The focus will instead be on gearing up local public health operations, who will knock on doors if people can’t be reached by phone. This is something critics called for months ago.

Added to this is the continued pressure from teaching unions. While they are broadly supportive of the efforts, there have been attempts to make the government’s life more difficult. The National Education Union has provided its half a million members with a “checklist” which includes the question: “Will lidded bins with double bagging be available in every classroom and work area?” If the regulations aren’t fulfilled, the union says it will “escalate” matters.

Behind the optimistic comments from ministers, then, there is deep anxiety about the reopening of schools. The government was largely given the benefit of the doubt for failing to get to grips with the virus in the spring, but the public will be less compromising if the return to education becomes a debacle.