It is vital that we protect students’ education as well as the NHS

The benefits of being in school are clear and the risks low, so we must put the interests of pupils first

The Prime Minister has told us that in order to protect the NHS and save lives, new national measures will be required from today. The difference between now and March is that we are continuing to keep our schools open full-time and are encouraging all our nurseries and early years settings to do likewise. I want to explain why, and what has changed.

The “why” is easy. When it comes to our children, there really is nothing we wouldn’t do to make sure they get the education they deserve. The wellbeing and long-term future of all our young people is a national priority and they have already lost crucial learning time. This is particularly true for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, who could least afford to fall behind. Every day they spend out of school is another that risks allowing a gap between them and the rest of their class to widen.

This is why I strongly disagree with the leadership of the National Education Union, who appear content to put the progress of those pupils in particular on hold, by calling for us to close schools. When the risks are being managed, when the benefits of being in school are so clear, this seems to be an isolated position that doesn’t put the best interests of pupils first.

To help the children who need it most, we have allocated £350 million out of our £1 billion Covid catch-up fund for extra tuition in schools. The National Tutoring Programme is now up and running, helping those children catch up.

But one of the key differences between now and when we were first hit by the Covid virus is that we are much better informed and much better armed than we were.

All our education settings are operating with strict safety measures in place, to keep children safe and minimise the risk of infection. I’ve been visiting many of them and I know that children are adapting spectacularly well to these and have got back into the swing of learning in spite of the adjustments.

It is thanks to the incredible efforts of teachers, support staff and child care workers that this has been possible. I’d like to echo Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner, who said that their survey showed 71 per cent of children agreed that they were excited to be back at school and 63 per cent were worried about not being able to carry on going to school if they were to close, which she said would be a “disaster for children’s wellbeing and education”.

I think it also bears repeating for those parents who are still anxious, that the chances of children in school becoming seriously ill from Covid are very, very rare. The UK’S chief medical officers were all unanimous on this point back in August and that has not changed. The latest data tells us only 0.1 per cent of pupils were absent from school due to a confirmed case of coronavirus.

As well as protective measures in place to reduce the risk of transmission, I am glad to say that we are making huge progress in testing for the disease. We are expanding our capacity all the time. We are running pilot projects in our universities to see how new testing technology could be rolled out in schools, which does not require a laboratory for processing and can turn around rapid results within an hour. And, of course, we continue to expect schools and colleges to support the expanding NHS Test and Trace system as an additional safety measure.

I will continue to put the safety and wellbeing of pupils, students and staff at the heart of all decision-making. We must protect the NHS, but we must also protect the futures of our young people.

‘When it comes to our children, there is nothing we wouldn’t do to get them the education they deserve’