67% of readers don’t want to send their kids back to class 35% 38% 36% 71% 65% 74%
A SURVEY conducted by the Halifax Courier, has revealed that the majority of our readers are uncomfortable with sending their children back to school in early June.
Our lockdown survey, published on the Halifax Courier’s website as well as 150 others across the UK last week, asked readers 25 questions about how the coronavirus crisis has shaped the lives, opinions and habits of people in Calderdale and what they’d like to see happen in the coming weeks and months.
One of the questions in the survey focused on children asking readers whether they would feel comfortable about their youngsters going back to school in early June.
Some European countries, such as Denmark, have already reopened their schools.
Speaking on TV’s Andrew Marr show, the former Education Secretary Michael Gove, said that they UK can “learn” from these nations.
Mr Gove said “that it is extremely unlikely that any school is likely to be the source of a Covid outbreak.” However, he also acknowledged that “you can never eliminate risk.”
Today we can reveal how readers in Calderdale felt about the potential re-opening of schools.
The majority of Courier readers (67 per cent) said they felt either ‘not very comfortable’, or ‘not comfortable at all’, about their kids returning to school in early June. A total of 16.5 per cent of thoese taking part said that they were ‘very comfortable’, and 14.29 per cent were ‘slightly comfortable.’
On a national level, almost half - 44.7% - of respondents said they felt “not at all comfortable” with their children returning to school in early June, which is the timeframe the Prime Minister has announced for England.
Around one fifth of respondents - 19.3% - feel “not very comfortable” about the idea, with just 17.4% saying they feel “very comfortable” and 16.9% saying they feel “slightly comfortable”.
When asked which elements of everyday life should be given the highest level of priority as restrictions ease, “the re-opening of schools” was presented as one of the options.
Thirty two per cent of our readers said that the reopening of schools should be given a high level of priority during the easing of lockdown. A further 42 per cent said it should be given a medium level of priority.
On a national level, just 16% of respondents said they were looking forward to their kids going back to school. The most popular option was seeing family, which 77.2% of respondents nationally said they were looking forward to. 35 per cent of readers believe it will take 6-12 months for everyday life to return to some sort of normality. 38 per cent of Halifax Courier readers believe that the UK Government has handled the coronavirus crisis ‘quite well’.
32 per cent of readers said that the reopening of schools should be given a high level of priority
71 per cent of Halifax Courier readers, want the Government to ease lockdown meassures slowly. 65 per cent of readers are most looking forward to being able to visit family and friends postlockdown.