Secondary school pupils in England will be tested for Covid-19 at least once before rejoining classes for the new term
The Government of United Kingdom (U.K.) has said that secondary school pupils in England have to be tested for Coronavirus (COVID-19) before re-joining classes for the new term.
The Government has assured the schools that testing kits would be provided to them. Besides, once the term resumes, students will have to get tested twice a week regularly. The new on-site testing rules will be limited to England.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of State for Education – Nadhim Zahawi said the face coverings will be required in schools until January 26, 2022.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland, students are already being asked to test twice every week. The Welsh Government has urged staff and students to test 3 times per week before the start of the new term.
Speaking on the occasion, Nadhim said, “Being in the classroom is undoubtedly the very best place for children and I’m looking forward to welcoming pupils back next week to continue their face-to-face learning, which is so important for their education and wellbeing.”
Taking it to twitter, Nadhim tweeted, “I’m looking forward to welcoming pupils back to school & college this week. I know we face challenges with the Omicron variant but as the Prime Minister and I have made clear, education is our number one priority. Let me offer some reassurance ahead of the new term.”
I'm looking forward to welcoming pupils back to school & college this week.
— Nadhim Zahawi (@nadhimzahawi) January 2, 2022
I know we face challenges with the Omicron variant but as the Prime Minister and I have made clear, education is our number one priority.
Let me offer some reassurance ahead of the new term👇🏽
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He further tweeted,
Testing 🥼
— Nadhim Zahawi (@nadhimzahawi) January 2, 2022
Face-to-face teaching will continue to be the expected norm, so all secondary schools have been asked to provide an on-site test for pupils.
We have ensured schools & colleges can order more tests through a separate route to continue testing from home.
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Schools having poor ventilation would be helped with 7,000 air-cleaning. This is in addition to the 1,000 air-cleaning units which were announced earlier. In addition, 350,000 CO2 monitors have already been distributed to schools across the country. He added that education is the most important thing for the Government and they will reassure that necessary measures are in place to ensure face-to-face education.
Nadhim has also Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), a non-ministerial department responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions and including state schools, will not be inspecting secondary schools during the first week of term in January 2022, as schools undertake on-site pupil testing.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care – Sajid Javid said in a statement that regular testing is a keyway to support schools and protect face-to-face teaching.
Besides, the Government has also urged the people to get vaccinated. Around 2 million students aged between 12-17 years of age are still unvaccinated. Nadhim also urged the teachers who had left the profession or have retired to come back as temporary support.
