Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Mixed messages will undermine Covid fight
Here in Wales, where the infection rate is running at over twice that of the worse region of England, the Welsh Government have taken the decision to close down schools to try and arrest the spread of Coronavirus.
In England, where they have just put a huge section of the population into Tier three measures in an effort to control the virus in the run-up to Christmas, not only are they not closing schools but where headteachers and governors have taken the decision to close for public safety reasons Ministers are going to court to stop them.
The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, has issued a “temporary continuity direction” to Greenwich council, demanding the immediate withdrawal of a letter issued to headteachers over the weekend advising them to close schools early and switch to remote learning amid rising Covid infection rates in the capital.
Greenwich and Islington councils had advised schools to close, except to the children of key workers and those classed as vulnerable, and switch to online lessons in the last few days of term to help slow the spread of the virus. The government has not yet launched legal action against Islington.
The problem with Ministers being at odds with perfectly reasonable decisions by local authorities is that it sends mixed messages to the public, a significant minority of whom have apparently abandon basic precautions anyway. This heavy handed approach by the education secretary is more likely to lead to a greater spread of the virus, rather than help suppress it.
The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, has issued a “temporary continuity direction” to Greenwich council, demanding the immediate withdrawal of a letter issued to headteachers over the weekend advising them to close schools early and switch to remote learning amid rising Covid infection rates in the capital.
Greenwich and Islington councils had advised schools to close, except to the children of key workers and those classed as vulnerable, and switch to online lessons in the last few days of term to help slow the spread of the virus. The government has not yet launched legal action against Islington.
The problem with Ministers being at odds with perfectly reasonable decisions by local authorities is that it sends mixed messages to the public, a significant minority of whom have apparently abandon basic precautions anyway. This heavy handed approach by the education secretary is more likely to lead to a greater spread of the virus, rather than help suppress it.
