Socialist Party Wales Socialism In Wales
No return to school until its safe
The announcement that Welsh government has made of a return to school for all students in Wales on June 29th, must be opposed by all unions in Wales. No teacher, teaching assistant or school worker must be forced back to work in unsafe conditions. There must be no return to work unless it meets the “Five Tests” laid down by teaching unions
A premature return to school risks the safety of pupils and teachers, especially those with vulnerable relatives, and a new upsurge in Covid cases in our communities. Employers are pressurising governments to put teachers back to work so that they can provide childminding for their workers to return to work, even if it leads to a new wave of Covid infections.
The education minister, Kirsty Williams, has announced that all pupils in Wales will return to school. She has said that one-third will be in school at a time, but it still represents a dangerous gamble with the lives of parents, children and teachers. “That means that the teacher will have contact with every single child in a class of 30+. They are even more likely than teachers in England to come into contact with the virus and then pass it on to the other children and indirectly to their parents” said one primary teacher when she heard the announcement.
“And if every teacher is teaching face to face for five days, one third at a time, who will be doing the online teaching to the children at home?”
NEU member, Jane Jenkins, Head Teacher of Moorland Primary in Cardiff, who has been running a hub school for the children of key workers told the BBC: “The one thing the hub has shown is social distancing is impossible with young children. Under the age of six, children don’t have an understanding of it.”
NEU Cymru highlighted these concerns and pointed out “We wonder how that is going to deal with the fact, announced just last Friday by the First Minister, that the R rate in Wales has not decreased in the last 3 or 4 weeks. It currently stands at 0.8 which has to be a serious concern. Any fluctuation upwards could have serious repercussions.”
The NASUWT Wales said: “Allowing all pupils the opportunity for contact time at their schools is the most dangerous option in terms of virus transmission.”
Reckless
In England the Johnson government’s demand that schools re-open has flown in the face of scientific and medical opinion that it is unsafe to re-open schools especially for younger age groups, who are the least able to maintain social distancing. Louise Cuffaro – a National Education Union (NEU) secretary in London explained:
“Everyone is supposed to be socially distancing outside school, but somehow when you get inside school it’s not so bad? The children haven’t seen their friends for goodness knows how long. They’re young children. They don’t understand. We don’t have the facilities or space to properly social distance, even if that alone was enough to make it safe. They’re not going to be able to play with their toys. To return to school in these circumstances – it’s reckless.
A Welsh primary teacher commented “Our basic demand is for a safe return at the appropriate time with social distancing measures that protect children and teachers. It seems that the Welsh government is also giving in to the pressure for employers to provide a child-minding service to allow their workers to return to work rather than listening to the scientific advice that insists that there should be no return in the current circumstances”.
A Welsh secondary teacher pointed out that she teaches 150 children. “That means I have indirect contact with 150 families and I will be in contact with any infected children and also a potential transmitter of the virus to those children and their families”.
The Five Tests
The most important condition for a return in Wales is that the NEU’s five tests are met. They are:
Test 1 : Much lower numbers of Covid-19 cases
Test 2 : A national plan to ensure social distancing and PPE in every school
Test 3 : Comprehensive access to regular testing for children and staff
Test 4 : Plans put in place to test a whole school or college when a case occurs and for isolation to be strictly followed.
Test 5 : Protection for vulnerable children and teachers. No children or teachers with underlying conditions that make them more vulnerable to the virus should be forced back to school.
Clearly these tests will not be met under the current plan. The Welsh government’s test and trace programme is not even running yet, despite its claims, according to a report from Unison Carmarthenshire.
It should be up to trade union reps to determine whether Test 2 has been met in every school and whether there is sufficient social distancing and PPE so that it’s safe for workers to go back. As it stands none of the schools have adequate washing facilities, let alone PPE.
If the Welsh government cannot guarantee that all these tests are reached by June 28th then there should be no return to school in Wales. The whole trade union movement should rally around teaching unions to defend their right to keep themselves, their pupils and our communities safe by refusing to return.
School Holiday Cuts
And the conditions to service being considered by the government should be rejected. The government is intending to extend the school summer term by a week, cutting the summer holidays in return for an extra week in October half term.
This discriminates against poorer pupils’ families who will find it easier to play outside during the summer while richer families can fly off to sunspots in October. The cut in the summer term has long been an aim of education authorities because it means saving a week’s heating bills in October. Teaching unions should unite to oppose the proposal and ensure that it is not repeated in future years.
Action Needed
While correctly criticising the Welsh government’s proposals none of the education unions have said yet that they will fight them. There needs to be a clear united statement by all the unions opposing the return to school on these terms and a clear lead for teachers to refuse to return, if necessary using Section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (which gives all workers the legal right to refuse to work in dangerous conditions) in a co-ordinated campaign of action. Teaching unions should organise with parents who are also unhappy with these proposals.
Emergency union meetings should be organised for members to raise their concerns and to plan a campaign of opposition.
And there must be a joint campaign with parents to prevent these unsafe plans from being implemented.
