Written by: Mireia Cuevas Crespo
Following the news confirming that the new coronavirus variant Omicron has arrived in the UK after the first case was confirmed a few weeks ago, the government has started tightening measures to prevent a further rise in COVID19 cases.
With face masks being compulsory again in shops and public transport since the last 30th of November, further actions to prevent the spread of the virus are likely to take place, especially after the Christmas period.
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The Department of Education (DfE) sent an email to all schools requesting all secondary schools in England to test students on-site after the festive period, as ‘’it will help reduce transmission after a period of social mixing’’.
However, this statement has caused great controversy among schoolteachers, and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has also declared their disagreement with this new measure and encouraged the Government to remember that ‘’headteachers are educators rather than an ad hoc branch of the NHS’’.
Laura Mesia, a teacher at Le Petite Ecole French School in London thinks that teachers having to test pupils would mean a waste of time in class and that teachers are ‘’not trained to test anyone’’. She added that if the Government really wants to test children, they should do it at home, where they will feel more comfortable.
As an answer to this, the DFE stated that they ‘’ understand that this is a significant additional ask but testing continues to play a vital role in keeping COVID19 out of schools’’.
The Government has not yet made any further statements about this matter and therefore education staff is currently waiting for further Government instructions on the matter.