Four in ten teachers agree with banning school closures

Nearly four in ten - 38 per cent - of teachers agree or strongly agree with banning school closures and classing them as ‘essential infrastructure', according to a survey of 4,690 teachers for EdTech event, Bett.
 
The move on banning school closures is proposed by senior Tory MP Rob Halfon, the chairman of the education select committee, who wants school closures to be banned unless they are voted for in parliament. 
 
Mr Halfon has put forward a Private Members’ bill to argue the case, saying that school closures and lockdowns had led to massive gaps in learning and to a safeguarding crisis.
 
Many teachers remain uncertain about the proposed ban, with 29 per cent saying they were unsure whether they backed it.
 
Slightly fewer teachers were against the ban - with 20 per cent disagreeing and 10 per cent strongly disagreeing.
 
Primary school teachers remained marginally more supportive of keeping schools open - with 39 per cent agreeing or strongly agreeing with a ban on future closures, 30 per cent being uncertain, nine per cent strongly disagreeing and 18 per cent disagreeing.
 
Among secondary school teachers, 39 per cent agreed or strongly agreed with a ban on closures while 27 per cent were unsure and a third disagreed or strongly disagreed.
The split was starkest between state and private schools.
 
Private schools were much more likely to want to stay open - with 25 per cent strongly in favour compared with 15 per cent in the state sector.
 
Overall, 48 per cent of private school teachers backed the ban compared to 37 per cent in the state sector.
 
Private primaries were strongly in favour of Mr Halfon’s proposals by 53 per cent compared to state primaries on 38 per cent.
 
Just 37 per cent of state secondary school teachers backed the ban compared to nearly half - 48 per cent - of private secondaries.
 
More state secondary teachers disagreed with the ban - with 34 per cent disagreeing or strongly disagreeing - than private secondary teachers (23 per cent).
 
For private primaries, just 20 per cent opposed the move compared with 28 per cent in state primaries.
 
A further 23 per cent of private school teachers agreed with the ban on closures compared to 22 per cent of state schools,
 
Headteachers were also more likely to be very supportive of keeping schools open - with 42 per cent strongly agreeing or agreeing with an outright ban compared with just 35 per cent of classroom teachers.
 
There were also regional variations, with London schools most in favour of a ban on closures - 40 per cent vs 31 per cent in the East of England. A third of teachers in the East of England disagreed or strongly disagreed with school closures while that figure was 29 per cent in London; 35 per cent in the Midlands, 31 per cent in the North West, 32 per cent in the South East, 30 per cent in the South West and 28 per cent in Yorkshire and the North East.
 
Schools rated as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted were the most likely to want to stay open - with 38 per cent supporting the proposed ban compared to 34 per cent of schools rated as ‘Good’ and 33 per cent of schools rated as ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’.