British teachers employed by international schools in China who returned to the UK following the coronavirus outbreak say they feel under pressure to return despite being given no assurances as to how they will be quarantined upon arrival.

An email seen by Tes sent to teachers from Nord Anglia, an international schools operator with 16 schools based in mainland China, advises teachers who have left the country because of the Covid-19 outbreak to “start thinking about your return to your school, especially because this would allow you to consider completing a 14-day quarantine”.

Tes understands that teachers working for the company feel under pressure to return, as the company has asked them what their travel plans are on an almost daily basis, while refusing to answer any questions regarding their safety were they to return.

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One teacher told Tes that in his view, this put teachers at unacceptable risk, especially given that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has currently advised against all travel to mainland China except in “essential cases”.

The teacher had previously been asked to work through the night to deliver online lessons to pupils during Chinese teaching hours, and said neither the school nor company had responded to concerns regarding safety for him and his family were they to return.

The teacher said that his principal had told him that “we must wear masks to teach in, but told us that there is a mask shortage and that he cannot guarantee that the school can provide them”.

The teacher noted that some embassy staff had been removed already from mainland China by the FCO, and that international companies had also advised staff to work from home.

He said he was concerned by “the inability of the school group to detail what will happen if we are forcibly quarantined. For example, will families be separated?” he said.

“Will we have access to translators? Who will pay for the hotel if we are quarantined in a hotel? What kind of consular support is actually available? If there is a second wave of the virus, would we be airlifted out if we have gone against FCO advice?”

He said he had sought assurance from his school and Nord Anglia but no one had been able to reassure him or his partner - who is also a teacher - about these concerns.

He is also worried about media reports that have described teachers being separated from their partners under forced quarantine, and claimed that quarantine facilities were “inadequate” - all of which felt like “an unacceptable risk”.

The teacher had also reported that his principal had communicated with parents via email, letting them know that any staff outside China had been advised to start returning so that they could complete a 14-day quarantine period before the school reopened. 

He said that the fact China had not signed the international convention on human rights regarding quarantine meant he feared returning. 

“I think that the school group are sensitive to this but, at regional and school level, they are playing a different game. This allows the corporate entity to keep its nose clean while allowing the local school to play the local game,” he said.

“The end result is teachers ‘volunteering’ to return to high-risk situations without fully appreciating that they have the right to preserve their safety and indeed have been advised by their government to do so.”

Since Tes contacted Nord Anglia regarding the pressure teachers felt they were under, the company issued a further email to all international staff, stating that they should not travel to areas “designated high risk” by their home governments for business or leisure, and that if staff felt they needed to take a business trip to an area not designated high risk, they should consult their line managers before doing so.

“Remember that meetings can always be run using video technology, as per last week’s message. If travel is booked, please secure refundable tickets,” the email said.

A spokesperson for Nord Anglia said: “In a rapidly evolving situation, we are providing regular information to our colleagues and students’ families, and have received considerable support for how we’ve responded and also answered questions as quickly and as accurately as possible with the latest guidance.  

“In China, we have a statutory obligation to ensure we know our students’ and colleagues’ whereabouts each day during the outbreak.

“Like other international schools groups, we have spoken to colleagues from time to time to understand what their plans are, so we are in a position to reopen our schools when it’s safe to do so. To help plan ahead, we let colleagues in China know, and students’ parents, that we will give teachers a 14-day notice period to return to school when it’s safe to do so.

“We were thanked by many for providing clarity in challenging circumstances, and will support colleagues with any quarantine guidance as and when it becomes necessary.”