2. Instead, we hear from Dame Rachel De Souza, who says, “It can hardly be claimed that children who are meeting their friends are any safer than they would be in school.” It can very much be claimed they’re safer. Prolonged contact at school is a higher transmission risk...
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3. ...than a socially distanced walk or picnic. There is no doubt children suffer as a result of prolonged school absence. But will they suffer more or less if their parent or guardian gets a disease that might debilitate them?
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4. Death is a possible but unlikely outcome for most parents or guardians of children of school age. However, debilitating conditions such as neurological disorders, diabetes, cardiac arrhythmia, lung scarring or long term
#Covid19 infection seem to be increasingly common.Show this thread -
5. The government wants to present this as a political battle against the unions. It will try to paint people like
@cyclingkev and@MaryBoustedNEU as villains. The truth is the schools issue is part of the government’s continued failure to accept the reality of the pandemic.Show this thread -
6. We have to do things differently until there is a cure or vaccine. Trying to carry on as normal in the face of a lethal pathogen is stupid. The latest research underscores the role schools play in community transmission.https://twitter.com/adamhamdy/status/1276616960877498371 …
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7. If schools can’t open safely in September, they shouldn’t. And instead of blaming unions like
@NEUnion which are putting safety first, the government might want to look in the mirror. The government’s failure to act swiftly & decisively is the cause of this problem.Show this thread -
8. Its early message that
#Covid19 is mild. Its refusal to implement a strict lockdown. Its confusing public health messages. The poor examples set by members of government (shaking hands, escaping to the country etc). Its short-term, path of least resistance thinking.Show this thread -
9. Its decision not to pursue eradication. All these things are why it is unlikely to be safe to open schools in September. Rather than put the lives and health of children, parents, teachers and the wider community at risk by playing pretend...
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10. ...the government should confront reality. Schools cannot safely go back to normal during a pandemic. It should be planning for how it delivers education as safely as possible. Instead of being lazy and unimaginative, ministers should work hard to innovate.
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11. Risk can be reduced by keeping class sizes low, alternating attendance, using a combination of physical and digital learning, home visits, and countless other initiatives that would strike a balance between keeping people safe and delivering education.
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12. This isn’t a choice between school as normal and gangs of feral children roaming the streets. There are sophisticated options in between those extremes but they require hard work, creativity and determination. Qualities this government seems to lack.
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13. Here’s a petition calling on the government not to make school compulsory for the duration of the pandemic and to give parents and carers the choice.https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/300399 …
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