Secondary school pupils will be told to wear face masks from the moment they arrive until they leave when they return to classrooms this week.
In a desperate effort to protect the education of millions of youngsters amid a sharp rise in cases of the Omicron variant, Ministers have requested that pupils cover their faces all day – including while they are being taught.
Students are already asked to wear masks in communal areas.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi last night said he and Boris Johnson saw schools as their ‘No 1 priority’, adding that they wanted to ‘do everything in our power to minimise disruption’.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi last night said he and Boris Johnson saw schools as their ‘No 1 priority’, adding that they wanted to ‘do everything in our power to minimise disruption’
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, pictured, has been warned to expect a 'big bang' of Omicron cases in schools when they return next week. Teachers and support staff will also be required to wear masks. The measures will be reviewed on January 26
The wearing of masks is not a legal requirement, but Ministers expect schools to follow the guidance, which also applies to teachers and support staff. The measures will be reviewed on January 26, with a Government source saying they ‘will not be in place a minute longer than they need to be’, and adding: ‘It is obviously a better classroom experience without masks.’
Ministers are braced for a ‘big bang’ of Omicron cases and staff shortages when students and teachers are tested for coronavirus this week. A substantial surge in either could see larger class sizes or a return to remote learning for some pupils. In London, where rates of Omicron are particularly high, parents have been warned that school closures cannot be ruled out.
‘As a general rule, the more you test the more you are going to find Covid,’ the source said. ‘But the idea is that by containing it early, you stop the spread in schools.’
Many MPs are opposed to online lessons given the damage already done to the education of millions of youngsters by successive lockdowns.
Writing in The Mail on Sunday today, Conservative MP Robert Halfon, who chairs the Education Select Committee, says: ‘Pupils do not need to take any more time off. Every day lost is another day that we are damaging children’s lives.’
As well as the new measures on masks, the Government is deploying 7,000 extra air-cleaning units across the education sector to improve ventilation and slow the spread of Omicron. The schools regulator Ofcom is also temporarily suspending inspections.
The moves came as:
A daily record of 162,572 Covid cases was recorded in England, up 47.9 per cent on last Saturday. There were 1,915 hospital admissions, up almost 50 per cent week-on-week, and 154 deaths; Ministers rejected calls to cut the isolation period for those with Covid-19 from seven to five days because up to 30 per cent would still be infectious; The continued shortage of lateral flow tests
