4 in 5 schools have children off because of test shortages
MORE than four in five schools in England have children at home because they cannot access a Covid-19 test, figures revealed yesterday.
Thousands of youngsters either cannot get a test to rule out Covid-19 or are still waiting for results.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, warned that children’s education is being ‘needlessly disrupted’ by a testing system in ‘chaos’.
He accused the Government of failing schools and children, which is ‘unacceptable’. The findings will heap further pressure on ministers who are under fire amid a national shortage of Covid-19 tests.
Meanwhile Downing Street insisted yesterday that there were no shortages of coronavirus swabs despite chaotic scenes continuing at testing sites around the UK.
Union leaders wrote to the Prime Minister earlier this week urging him to get a grip of the situation before school staffing becomes ‘unsustainable’ and there is another ‘lockdown by default’.
The NAHT surveyed 736 school leaders over the last 24 hours and found that nearly nine in ten schools (87 per cent) have children not attending because they are waiting for test results. While 82 per cent have pupils at home as they cannot get a test.
And three in five schools have teachers staying home to self-isolate because they are waiting for test results.
The majority (94 per cent) of schools have seen pupils staying at home due to suspected or confirmed cases of Covid-19.
More than three in four (78 per cent) have had staff absences due to the need to selfisolate since reopening, the poll suggests.
Mr Whiteman said: ‘Schools are struggling with staffing, having to send groups of students home to isolate or close classes, and ultimately... children’s education is being needlessly disrupted.’
He added: ‘The system is in chaos. The Government has failed schools and children. It is unacceptable for this to happen when schools have put so much effort into getting their part of the plan right, and when pupils have had to endure so much uncertainty and disruption already.’
A Government spokesman said: ‘The latest official statistics show that 99.9 per cent of schools are open with the vast majority of pupils attending.’
It comes as the Prime Minister’s spokesman claimed he was ‘not aware of anything to suggest that tests aren’t available in some parts of the country’.
Demand for testing is currently three to four times higher than capacity, health officials have admitted. The Government is set to unveil new rules detailing how tests will be rationed to prevent the crisis forcing schools to close or doctors to stay off work.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock yesterday blamed shortages on people without symptoms going to testing centres.
He said demand had gone ‘through the roof’ and that tests will be prioritised for those who need it most.
Mr Hancock told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘It has gone up incredibly high including among people who are not eligible... We could have reduced the 100,000 tests a day going to care homes but we chose not to because that is where they were needed.’