UK: Parents not to be fined for not sending children back to school over COVID-19

UK: Parents not to be fined for not sending children back to school over COVID-19
12 / 05 / 2020
By Evening Standard - -

Parents will not be fined for refusing to send their children back to school due to safety concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic, the UK Government has said.

The announcement came as new guidance detailing Boris Johnson‘s roadmap for exiting the Covid-19 lockdown was published by officials on Monday.

Plans to ease the rules include allowing Reception, Y1 and Y6 children to return to school by June, with smaller class sizes planned for those deemed to be at key stages of their development.

This would be dependent on cases of coronavirus remaining low, Downing Street said.

Asked whether parents would be punished for keeping their children at home if they still did not feel they would be safe from infection, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “The short answer is, no they won’t.

The Government’s strategy also said that the ambition is for all primary school children to return to school before the summer holidays for a month “if feasible” – but this will be kept under review.

The Department of Education will engage with schools and early years providers to develop further detail and guidance on how schools should facilitate this.

The Government’s guidance document added that secondary schools and further education colleges should prepare to begin some “face-to-face contact” with Year 10 and 12 students who have key exams next year.

Schools, colleges and nurseries closed seven weeks ago due to the coronavirus outbreak, remaining open only for vulnerable youngsters and the children of key workers.

The strategy says local authorities and schools should urge more vulnerable children, as well as the children of critical workers, to attend school as there is a “large societal benefit”.

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