British doctors urge government to reopen schools before learning suffers

Boris Johnson is warned social and health inequalities will widen for disadvantaged families if schools remain shut

Students wearing face masks attend class at the Lopez de Mendoza Institute in Burgos after the reopening of schools in Spain. AFP / CESAR MANSO

Hundreds of paediatricians have signed an open letter to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging him to reopen schools or risk “scarring the life chances” of vulnerable children.

The UK government closed schools in March as part of the nation’s coronavirus lockdown measures.

Certain primary and secondary school year groups were allowed back this month but for the vast majority of children institutions are not expected to fully reopen until September at the earliest.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health is now urging the government to publish a clear plan for getting all children back to school.

It describes the absence of education as “without precedent” and says the break in children’s studies will put the opportunities of a generation of young people in jeopardy.

It says the families “who have the fewest resources need the most support”.

“Children need their schools. Every child deserves to have an uninterrupted education and teachers, school leaders and local authorities have worked tirelessly to provide that before and during Covid,” said Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

“Left unchecked, Covid-19 will exacerbate existing problems and deepen structural social and health inequalities.”

It comes as many shops reopened in the UK on Monday.

Robert Halfon, chairman of the education select committee, has questioned how stores can reopen but not schools.

“Why is it that children and parents can have access to Primark over the next few months but many of them won’t have access to schools according to your risk assessments,” he said.

MPs have accused unions of making parents afraid to send their children to school by portraying them as “death traps”.

But Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, has warned it will be impossible for educational institutions to fully reopen while the UK’s two-metre social-distancing rule remains in place.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, the former chief inspector of schools in England, has warned the present situation is a “tragedy”.

“The impact of not being at school is terrible,” he said.

“It’s a great sadness and a great tragedy that this has happened, the gap between disadvantaged students is massive.”

In a bid to reduce the impact of months of lost schooling ministers are looking at proposals to fund private tutors.

The year-long initiative could see schools given funding for private tutors to complement youngsters’ studies in a bid to help those struggling catch up.

Hamid Patel, the chief executive of Star Academies trust that operates 29 state schools in England, says his schools are looking to bring children back in their summer holidays.

"Our strategy to bridge widening gaps, foster resilience and set our pupils up for success is built on planned interventions over a 12-month period," he told The Guardian newspaper.

“We intend to use a set of measures including summer holiday camp, Saturday school and planned literacy and numeracy catch-up sessions within the school timetable.”

On Wednesday, Lord Bethell, the junior health minister, told MPs of the Science and Technology Select Committee that a viable tracing app would not be available until the winter months and added it was not a “priority” at the moment.

The app, which has been hit with delays, was due to be launched in May and it had been hoped it would provide reassurance to parents.