Open schools – even if it means shutting pubs

I completely agree with Boris Johnson’s statement in your newspaper last week that getting children back to school is a ‘moral imperative’, and that perhaps other areas of the economy and society will need to be closed back down to make it happen safely.

Yes, more jobs would sadly be lost by closing pubs and entertainment venues, but surely the future of the next generation is more important than the short-term financial benefits of keeping parts of the leisure sector just limping along.

Enough evidence has been published to show that losing the huge psycho-social benefits our children gain from being together, and learning together, is far worse than some of the other harms that lockdown has caused.

As the son of teachers, who have always put their child charges first, and as a fellow public servant paid by the taxpayer, I am not impressed at the unions’ need to condemn the simple truth that schools need to reopen fully.

Let us, please, get on and make it happen. It is the least that so many parents, placed on furlough at 80 per cent of their wages (and desperately trying to retain their jobs), can expect from us public servants who have continued to be paid from the public purse. Sahan Rannan-Eliya,

Consultant Children’s Hand and Reconstructive Surgeon, Newcastle upon Tyne

I support the Prime Minister’s stance that it is essential that we reopen schools in September. The long-term damage that pupils will suffer through lack of education will have a profound effect on the future prospects for a generation.

I am extremely concerned for our most vulnerable children, who lack parental support at home. No matter how good a local authority’s children’s services department is, staff are still dependent on referrals.

With schools closed in Coventry, we have seen a huge drop in the number of referrals to our children’s services department, and it is anticipated that in the autumn we will have a huge increase in the number of cases coming through. We will have many children suffering hidden harm, such as neglect and emotional abuse. We know that cases of domestic violence are rising too. Many of these cases would be picked up in schools. Councillor Julia Lepoidevin,

Coventry

Before lecturing us on our ‘moral duty’ to ensure the reopening of schools, Boris Johnson should attend to his own ‘moral duty’ and sack Dominic Cummings, the man who did so much to undermine the fight against the coronavirus with his Barnard Castle escapade.

Alan Pavelin, Chislehurst, Kent

No pupil has ever infected a teacher with Covid, and it’s the education of poorer children that has suffered the most. Roy Daniels, Luton