‘Schools must not close because of soaring energy bills’

BRITAIN’S schools “absolutely must not close” despite the threat of soaring energy bills, the Children’s Commissioner has declared.

Dame Rachel de Souza demanded the winning candidate to be prime minister bring in help for schools to meet their heating and lighting costs after some head teachers warned they may have to close for one or two days a week, She said her experience of Covid had shown her that it was “absolutely imperative that we never close schools again” because of the devastating effect it had on young people’s mental health.

Dame Rachel also urged the new prime minister not to delay the Online Safety Bill after both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak expressed concerns it could hamper free speech. She said that if the Bill was delayed, young people will continue to be at risk of pornography, bullying and web pages promoting suicide.

The commissioner said she had also written to the chairman of the Covid inquiry to urge her to ensure the effect of lockdown on children is fully investigated. Schools are not subject to the energy price cap like ordinary households, meaning they will face even higher price rises.

Last month, Dr Robin Bevan, head teacher of Southend High School for

Boys in Essex, said four-day weeks were “being considered” by some schools.

Mike Jordan, chief executive of Creative Education Trust, said he had heard discussions of a “three-day week”.

Dame Rachel, a former head teacher, said: “Schools absolutely must not close. It’s absolutely unthinkable.

“We’ve just come out of lockdown, we’re just getting back to normal, we’ve just had our first sets of exams, and it’s absolutely imperative that we do not ever close schools again. The harms for children, the mental health harms – we’ve gone from one in nine children with a possible mental health disorder to one in six. We’ve got children desperate to get back to school.”

She added: “It was absolutely heartbreaking to see schools close during Covid … There are two things that can transform a child’s life: great education and a great family. We must never close schools again.”