End schools dither and delay today Prime Minister – The Yorkshire Post says

Excruciating in her criticism of dithering Ministers for an inadequate response thus far, it sets out the measures that must be taken now so every pupil can return to school in September – the key national objective.

And given how the PM is reluctant to set up a task force, he should use Ms Longfield’s blueprint as the basis for a national programme of action – it could be called the Nightingale Schools – to galvanise the country.

Crucial to ensuring that a generation of young people do not see their life chances suffer any more than necessary as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, every day wasted now will make it harder to complete Ms Longfield’s mission by September.

Yes, schools should be encouraged to open now if they can, but it should be left to their discretion and local circumstances. Instead Ministers need to be concentrating their efforts on achieving the September start-date by commissioning temporary buildings, putting in the technology to assist teachers and asking former school staff to return to the classroom in the way that ex-NHS staff have done.

But, please, don’t  alienate and offend teachersany more by expecting them to give up their summer break. They, too, are individuals – key workers – who have been left exhausted by this crisis. Work with them Mr Johnson – they’re not the enemy – and you might begin to understand what the teaching profession does for all children and, specifically, the most vulnerable whose long-term futures are now at most risk if the Government does not act decisively in the short-term.

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James Mitchinson

Editor