Union calls for reintroduction of Covid measures in schools in Beds and Herts
It is to tackle rising Covid cases
Last updated 13th Oct 2021
Schools in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire need to re-introduce stricter measures to tackle rising Covid cases.
That's according to Keith Anderson, NASUWT The Teachers Union organiser for the East, which covers Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.
He told us that members are worried:
"I know one primary school that had 14 cases with one class, so they are certainly high. Clearly they teachers are worried about it.
"So we've said again to the Government that they've got to reconsider things such as self-isolation rules, if a student tests positive."
He also said that the relaxation of rules for pupils and staff at the start of term, meant this was always likely to happen:
"To suddenly move to a position, as if Covid was no longer an issue and just basically scrapping all those measures.
"Instead of a phased approach would inevitably lead towards the situation we currently have."
He went on to say that the testing rules for pupils shouldn't have been changed at the start of the year:
"Home testing is not as good as testing on site. I think some parents are not testing as thoroughly as they would be, if pupils were tested at school".
He also said that many local schools still don't have some of the new measure in place:
"Ventilation is an important thing within classrooms and in many cases, we're still waiting for CO2 monitors to be put in place. Which doesn't seem to be happen at the moment."
He concluded by saying that teachers getting infected en-masse will ultimately cause more disruption than the re-introduction of remote learning, in some capacity:
"You have to try and balance the risk with the disruption that's going be caused.
"But at the same time, if you end up with teachers being infected and ill that's going to cause plenty of disruption as well."