Unions call for return of free Covid testing for schools

Trade unions representing most of England’s school and college leaders have written jointly to Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi calling on him to reconsider the decision to withdraw free Covid testing from pupils and staff.
 
Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), and Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), say many school leaders are reporting that disruption caused by Covid is greater than at any previous point during the pandemic and that it is increasingly difficult for leaders to keep their schools open.

“In the face of this extensive and ongoing disruption, the government’s decision to remove free access to symptomatic and asymptomatic testing for almost all pupils and staff feels reckless in the extreme,” they write.

They also call on Mr Zahawi to rethink the decision to publish school performance tables based on this summer’s exam results, and the decision to share Key Stage 2 SATs results with Ofsted.

“Refusing to recognise the impact on leaders, teachers, schools and communities of publishing inaccurate and meaningless data on school performance adds to the extreme stress under which education staff have been operating for more than two years now, and will exacerbate the recruitment and retention crisis that has been building for several years. Many members are telling us that this is the final straw which is leading them to step down from school or college leadership,” they say.

ASCL General Secretary Geoff Barton said: “We have written to the Education Secretary because school and college leaders increasingly feel abandoned by a government which does not seem to care that Covid is causing chaos in education settings and that the first public exams in three years are just weeks away.”

NAHT General Secretary Paul Whiteman said: “We have repeatedly warned the government that education is at breaking point. We hear sympathetic words and acknowledgement of the great work our members do but see little actual action to bring relief to the chaos. As children’s education continues to suffer, and as the physical and mental health of the school community continues to be at risk, we cannot wait for support any longer. We need a proper plan for how to live with Covid long-term that is focused on keeping levels low and reducing disruption, rather than just ignoring it.”