‘Shut schools & colleges now to tackle 2nd wave’

PROTEST Youngster makes view known

SCHOOLS and colleges should close during the lockdown to help slow the spread of the virus, union leaders say.

Kevin Courtney, joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, says schools are an “engine for virus transmission” and should only be open to vulnerable children and those of key workers.

He said: “It would be self-defeating for the Government to impose a national lockdown, whilst ignoring the role of schools as a major contributor to the spread of the virus.”

Mr Courtney added that while closing schools would “impose pain” on communities, a lockdown would not be effective if they were not included.

Statistics show one per cent of primary pupils and two per cent of secondary pupils have the virus and those figures are increasing.

Last week, Prof Neil Ferguson – who initially modelled the epidemic’s impact for the Government – said there was a limit on what could be done to tackle the virus without closing schools to some year groups.