Schools should have no role in policing vaccination of pupils, says union

SCHOOLS should not have any responsibility for promoting, enforcing or policing vaccination of pupils, a union has said.

School leaders union NAHT said UK policy on jabs for children should be led by clinicians.

Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said: “The debate about whether or not to vaccinate older children has been raging for many weeks. NAHT has always said that UK policy on child vaccination should be led by clinicians.

“To the extent that any such policy is controversial it is clear that schools should not carry any responsibility for vaccination promotion, enforcement or policing.”

He said Covid remains a worry for school leaders, given the large numbers of absences related to the virus last term.

A record 1.13 million children in England were out of school for Covid-related reasons towards the end of term, recent Government figures showed.

The figures included 994,000 children self-isolating due to a possible contact with a Covid-19 case, 48,000 pupils with a confirmed case of coronavirus, and 33,300 with a suspected case. A further 50,700 pupils were off as a result of school closures due to Covid-related reasons, the Department for Education (DFE) statistics showed.

Mr Whiteman said: “Regardless of the extent that young people might suffer directly from the virus, the large numbers of pupils absent from school at the end of last term showed that Covid still has the power to affect the quality and continuity of the education they receive.

“That is a continuing worry for school leaders.

“Pupils will return to schools next month, and the Government needs to take every possible step to prevent transmission of the virus amongst people in school communities, no matter what their age.

“As ever, it will be a matter of public confidence in whatever these measures are deemed to be, so the Government also has a duty to communicate carefully and clearly in order to avoid any more unnecessary disruption and missed education for pupils.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said extending the jabs rollout would reduce disruption to schooling. He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “Anything that gives the reassurance to young people that they are being treated in the way that the adult population is and that their education won’t be disrupted to the extent it has been – that has to be welcomed.

“I’m sure many parents, with their youngsters, will think at last we’re starting to give a real sense of priority to young people’s education.”

He said he generally thinks “young people feel they’ve been let down educationally”.

Mr Barton suggested vaccination for younger pupils could also be considered.