Covid: UK 'moving toward school closures' in new year says Education Committee chair

The UK is moving toward school closures in the new year if action is not taken to prevent Covid putting huge swathes of the teaching workforce into self-isolation, the chair of the Education Committee has warned.

Robert Halfon told MPs the government should be working to ensure there is an "army" of back-up teachers ready to replace school staff if they are forced into quarantine by the new, fast-spreading Omicron variant of coronavirus.

There are already hundreds of thousands of cases of the strain in the UK, according to estimates by the UK Health Security Agency, and its leader Dr Jenny Harries said it is spreading at a "staggering" rate, doubling less than every two days.

Tory MP Mr Halfon said "it seems to me we are moving sadly towards de facto school closures", as he called on the government to prepare schools for what is expected to be a huge wave of Omicron.

"There's a nationwide campaign for an army of NHS volunteers but not for education.

"Why is a similar army of retired teachers or Ofsted inspectors not being recruited to support schools struggling to cope with staffing requirements?" he asked.

"Can we not have the same vision, the same passion, the same resource provision for the education service as we do for the National Health Service?"

Responding, education minister Alex Burghart said "the government is throwing the kitchen sink at making sure that before schools get back, all adults will have had the chance to have their booster".

"The key to our success in the battle against Omicron will be the booster programme", he said, adding "this is how we maximise our chances for making sure that our children get the world-class education they deserve".

Outlining other measures to keep education going, the minister said there will be "on-site lateral flow testing on return for secondary school students, continued regular testing at home for the education and childcare sectors, and a comprehensive contingency framework to manage outbreaks".

Labour called on the government to go even further by committing to having offered every 12 to 15 year old a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the Christmas holidays.

A spokesperson for the party said: "We cannot afford to have any more disruption to children's education and that means ensuring schools are both safe and open for pupils to be able to continue learning together."

Secondary school pupils are allowed to have two doses of a Covid vaccine after previously only being allowed one, and all over-18s are now eligible for a booster jab three months after their second dose.

The ramped-up drive to offer all adults a booster jab before the new year has seen a huge increase in take up since Boris Johnson made warnings about the Omicron variant on Sunday.

A record 656,711 booster and third doses of Covid-19 vaccine were reported in the UK on Tuesday, new figures show.

But another record was also smashed on Wednesday as the UK reported its highest ever number of daily, lab-confirmed Covid cases, demonstrating the fast speed at which Omicron spreads.

A further 78,610 cases were recorded on Wednesday, over 10,000 cases more than the previous record of 68,053 on January 8, 2021.

But parents have been told they must not take their children out of school early this term.

Responding to suggestions some parents were keeping their children home to avoid the prospect of anyone catching Covid-19 and being forced to isolate over Christmas, the prime minister's official spokesperson said: "The best place for children - who have in many respects suffered the most through this pandemic - is in school, receiving vital face-to-face education."

They added: "It's important schools - and indeed parents - don't take precautionary steps to deprive their children of education".

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Secondary schools will, however, be given a "small amount of flexibility" on when they return after Christmas, education minister Mr Burghart said.

He said "the government is committed to ensuring schools open in January as normal", with mass testing central to the plan".

Mr Burghart added: "We are recommending that at the start of next term all secondary school pupils will be tested right at the start of term, and we are offering a small amount of flexibility for the time at which schools can go back in order to make sure that this testing can take place.

"We are offering additional funding to make sure that this testing is available. I can reassure the House that schools have and will have all of the testing facilities that they require."

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "We're sure that neither schools nor parents need lectures from Downing Street.

"Everybody is doing their very best to keep education going as best they can in increasingly difficult circumstances and amidst endless and unhelpful speculation.

"We agree that the best place for children is in school but we are also conscious that there are very high rates of infections in many settings and areas which are causing huge disruption.

"The Christmas holiday is only a couple of days away and it would be nice to get there without any more finger-wagging."