CHILDREN MUST COME FIRST

Education Secretary makes passionate back-to-school plea as he defends grades

GAVIN WILLIAMSON has vowed to get children back to school next month because the risks of not returning are “too high to ignore”.

In a heartfelt address, the Education Secretary said it is “morally, socially and economically necessary” to make sure pupils are back in the classroom for the new term.

Determined to put months of wrangling with teaching unions behind him, he said that the future of the nation’s children is at stake, insisting: “It is not political. It is right.”

It comes ahead of a new drive to persuade parents in England that it will be safe for children to return to the classroom in September.

The #backtoschoolsafely campaign, launched tomorrow, will highlight the measures being put in place that are designed to minimise the risk

of contracting coronavirus. The campaign will involve a media drive stressing how important education and organised learning is to development.

The measures, endorsed by Public Health England, will include staggered break times and increased hygiene. Pupils will stay in consistent groups.

Staff and students are also being encouraged to walk or cycle to school when possible.

Writing exclusively for the

Sunday Express, Mr Williamson said: “We are doing this to meet our promise: to get education back on track, because it is morally, socially and economically necessary.”

His comments come in the wake of controversy about the method used to award “calculated” A-level grades to students who were not able to sit their exams, with GCSE results due on Thursday.

Bur Mr Williamson stressed that unhappy youngsters can lodge an appeal about the results and, in England, sit exams in the autumn.

He acknowledged that children will need “lots of support” when they return to classes and pointed to the £1billion “Covid catch-up fund” designed to finance small group tuition in schools.

He claimed that “two hours of tutoring per week for 12 weeks can result in five months of academic catch-up”.

Research from the Office for National Statistics showed that people overwhelmingly expect their children to be back in the classroom next month. It found 91 per cent believe it is fairly or “very likely” they would return.

However, there are concerns, with 64 per cent of parents or carers fearing that their youngsters could catch Covid-19.

But a large-scale Public Health England study, to be published later this year, is expected to confirm that there is little evidence that the virus is transmitted in schools.