Fears of ‘mask apartheid’ as schools threaten to segregate pupils
‘This is not informed consent, it’s coercion ... it’s a form of harassment and intimidation of children’
PUPILS face “mask apartheid” as parents are told that those who won’t wear coverings will have to sit at the back of the class and will be banned from eating lunch with their friends.
Students who fail to wear a face mask when they return to secondary school next week have been warned that they will be physically segregated from their peers and even banned from certain activities, The Daily Telegraph has learnt. A leading public health expert has accused schools of contravening children’s rights by effectively “coercing” them into wearing masks.
The Government has said that masks should be worn in the classroom and indoors where it is impossible for students to keep two metres apart.
The Department for Education said that while masks were strongly encouraged, it was not a legal requirement, and pupils should not be “denied education” as a result of non-compliance.
However, parents fear their children will be discriminated against and forced to miss out on lessons if they come to school without a face mask.
One secondary school said pupils without masks would have to use a separate entrance and sit at a table alone at the back of the class by an open window. They would also be banned from group activities such as PE lessons.
Pupils at a secondary school in Rayleigh, Essex, were told that those without masks would be made to eat lunch outside, regardless of the weather.”
A secondary school in Worcester told pupils that children without masks, including those who were medically exempt, would be told two sit two metres away from everyone in the classroom.
One parent has accused schools of creating a “mask apartheid”, adding: “It will impact on their ability to learn.”
Meanwhile, other schools have told pupils they will be sent home to pick up a mask if they arrive without one.
Students at Park Academy, west London, have been told they will have to “wait outside” if they arrive with no mask until a mask has been brought to them, otherwise they will need to go home and get one.
And Catmose College in Oakham, Rutland, has threatened to expel students who fail to wear face masks.
Alexandra Emmerson, the school’s vice principal, told parents: “Exclusion is always the last resort within any situation, however if a student deliberately places a member of staff at risk, then appropriate proportionate action will be taken.”
Allyson Pollock, a professor of public health at Newcastle University, accused schools of breaching children’s rights.
“This is not informed consent, it’s coercion, and other harms are emerging as a result – psychological trauma, isolation, segregation stigmatising children – and it’s a form of abuse and harassment and intimidation of children and parents,” she said.