Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi made a long statement to MPs in the House of Commons today on the return to school. Here are the key points:
1. Exams ‘will go ahead’ this summer
Mr Zahawi was asked by Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis for reassurance that exams “will go ahead as normal and we will get back to (the) exam structure that everyone is so desperate to return to”.
Mr Zahawi replied: “I can absolutely give him that assurance.”
The Department for Education made the same assurances last year before exams were cancelled for the second year running.
2. DfE to research ‘negative impact’ of face masks
Today the DfE published a document explaining why it had previously resisted reintroducing masks in secondary schools, saying the majority of staff and students said it made teaching and learning more difficult.
In the Commons today, Mr Zahawi said face masks were not “ideal” or “great for any child’s wellbeing”.
He announced that he had commissioned DfE staff to conduct further research to “better understand the negative impacts of face coverings on education, along with publishing the initial findings on this today”.
3. Number of ex-teachers filling absences to be announced this week
Addressing the DfE’s call for ex-teachers to return to classrooms to support schools suffering from teacher absence, Zahawi said there were members of his own department who had answered the “call to arms”.
He added that he would have a “better idea” on the exact number of teachers who have stepped forward at the end of the week.
The use of supply teachers to stem disruption in schools has been criticised for adding pressure on schools’ staffing budgets at a time when they are thinly stretched.
4. The 8,000 air filters figure is based on ‘modelling’
The education secretary repeated that 8,000 air cleaning units would be provided to schools from next week.
Mr Zahawi said that providing more filters than were needed would be a “waste” of “taxpayers’ money”.
He referred to Teacher Tapp “modelling” showing that 8,000 air purifiers was the number shown to be needed across schools.
However, Laura McInerney, co-founder of Teacher Tapp, said this evening that “about half of teachers have said they don’t have a CO2 monitor”.
