Anger mounts over UK government's decision to keep schools open

[snoop1130]

Anger mounts over UK government's decision to keep schools open

By Estelle Shirbon, Elizabeth Howcroft

 

Protesters from organization "Pause the System" wearing hazmat suits demonstrate against government's response to the coronavirus crisis, outside Downing Street in London, Britain March 16, 2020. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

 

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a backlash on Monday over his decision to keep schools open, with angry parents keeping their children at home and complaining that other countries were doing more to stop the spread of coronavirus.

 

Britain has reported 1,372 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 35 deaths, fewer than in Italy, Spain and France, where schools have been shut, though the British numbers are expected to rise.

 

Johnson’s spokesman said the scientific advice was that school closures were not a step the government should be taking at this time, but a growing number of parents are refusing to send their children to school.

 

In Doncaster in northern England, Suzana Ilieva has kept her six-year-old son at home since Friday, out of fear that he could transmit the virus to an elderly relative who lives with her family.

 

“I think the government is irresponsible and for the sake of protecting the economy is damaging people’s lives,” she said. “I made my own decision with my husband.”

 

In Anglesey in north Wales, Helen Wright was at home with her 10-year-old son and had asked his school to send her a home education pack.

 

“I do not trust government guidelines or the government over their handling of the matter,” she said.

 

Several teachers who spoke to Reuters reported that a larger than usual number of children were absent on Monday. They did not wish to be quoted, saying that managers had asked staff not to talk to media.

 

The tags #Covid19Walkout and #CloseTheSchoolsNow were both trending on Twitter in Britain. Pupils were posting photos of densely packed school corridors and staircases, saying it was impossible to follow guidelines on social distancing.

 

“@BorisJohnson it’s time to act!” a user called Charlotte said in one of many tweets directed at the prime minister. “We need you to take action to SAVE LIVES! Why are we the only country not doing anything? This is so frustrating.”

 

PETITION

 

On parliament’s website, a petition calling on the government to shut schools and colleges had attracted more than 590,000 signatures, and numbers were rising fast. Any petition on the website that gets more than 100,000 signatures must be considered for a parliamentary debate.

 

In Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland, a mother whose daughter suffers from underlying health problems launched an emergency legal challenge against the government’s stance.

 

The education ministry said on Monday morning that the official guidance had not changed.

 

“Our advice to schools is to remain open unless otherwise advised by Public Health England,” a spokeswoman for the ministry said.

 

Some schools have already closed due to a member of staff or a pupil or a relative showing symptoms of the coronavirus, but the spokeswoman declined to say how many.

 

“It’s a dynamic situation. We’re not going to get into a numbers game. Some schools are opening, closing, opening again,” she said.

 

The education minister, Gavin Williamson, will meet school representatives later on Monday and information will be given to the public after that meeting, the spokeswoman said.

 

Some parents said pulling their children out of school was a difficult choice.

 

“I’m very much on the cusp, the key balance to strike being the likelihood that my kids could get and spread it (two of them are asthmatic) against the likelihood they could fall behind their peers educationally,” said father Gary Mark Fuller on Twitter.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-03-16

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[melvinmelvin]

 

UK is not alone in doing this.

 

As far as I know also Sweden has concluded to keep schools and kindergartens open.

[candide]

On this particular coronavirus issue, I'm starting to wonder whether the clown on the east side of the Atlantic Sea is not worse than the clown on the west side.

[tomazbodner]

If they only left schools open.... On Sunday they had a mini marathon with over 6000 participants. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-51893095

 

And a concert by Sterephonics... which did caught the eye of the Chinese... http://shanghaiist.com/2020/03/17/chinese-netizens-rendered-speechless-by-crowded-stereophonics-concert-in-uk/

 

I think it's time to ban all the flights from UK, cancel visa exemptions, and all the issued visas. Not just by Thailand. Ignorance is bliss. Until it isn't.

 

[Laughing Gravy]

And as soon as a child is tested positive, all schools will be closed. Who will be the clown then.

[vogie]

6 hours ago, candide said:

On this particular coronavirus issue, I'm starting to wonder whether the clown on the east side of the Atlantic Sea is not worse than the clown on the west side.

Wonder no more, Boris is listening to the experts and quite rightly so, but some of these threads are just an excuse for some to have a go at either Boris or Trump, pathetic really.

[Bluespunk]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

In Anglesey in north Wales, Helen Wright was at home with her 10-year-old son and had asked his school to send her a home education pack.

Been teaching 30 years now, never seen one of them. 
 

It’s all about online teaching and live streaming. 

[Sujo]

While everyone is banning mass gatherings or warning against gatherings it seems incredibly stupid to keep schools open.

 

The economy is more precious than the children.

[superal]

35 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

If they only left schools open.... On Sunday they had a mini marathon with over 6000 participants. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-51893095

 

And a concert by Sterephonics... which did caught the eye of the Chinese... http://shanghaiist.com/2020/03/17/chinese-netizens-rendered-speechless-by-crowded-stereophonics-concert-in-uk/

 

I think it's time to ban all the flights from UK, cancel visa exemptions, and all the issued visas. Not just by Thailand. Ignorance is bliss. Until it isn't.

 

BJ and his medical advisers have adopted a strategy based on the " herd " where the majority of the population get the virus and thereafter have an immunity . Other top micro biologists have challenged this saying post infection immunity cannot be proven .  The UK medical team seem to be working on the survival of the fittest and are prepared to let the older generation be expendable fodder .  The WHO has criticised the UK lack of action and rightly so as they seem to think they know better than the rest of the world and are aloof to criticism .  However there stance may be changing in the last day or so and so it should . One of their reasons for keeping schools open was that medical staff who had children would be unable to work as they had to stay home to take care of their children .

The UK med teams plan is based on logistics and the capabilities of the already stretched NHS , lack of hospital beds and respiratory equipment .  Some might say they would be guilty of premeditated corporate manslaughter  .

 

[Chomper Higgot]

These parents need to have a word with themselves and consider their patriotic responsibilities.

 

The British Government is attempting to battle this virus by creating natural herd immunity, this requires large numbers of people to become infected.

 

Where’s the ‘we are all in this together’ spirit?

 

 

[from the home of CC]

14 minutes ago, Sujo said:

While everyone is banning mass gatherings or warning against gatherings it seems incredibly stupid to keep schools open.

 

The economy is more precious than the children.

not in the eyes of those in power..

[superal]

5 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

These parents need to have a word with themselves and consider their patriotic responsibilities.

 

The British Government is attempting to battle this virus by creating natural herd immunity, this requires large numbers of people to become infected.

 

Where’s the ‘we are all in this together’ spirit?

 

 

Sorry pal but I disagree . For one if I had children in a UK school I would keep them at home . There is zero proof of immunity from this virus , not my words but those on micro biologists .  Patriotic spirit is one thing but being led by a controversial team is another , remember " The king has got no clothes on " 

[Chomper Higgot]

5 minutes ago, superal said:

Sorry pal but I disagree . For one if I had children in a UK school I would keep them at home . There is zero proof of immunity from this virus , not my words but those on micro biologists .  Patriotic spirit is one thing but being led by a controversial team is another , remember " The king has got no clothes on " 

I don’t disagree.

 

But nevertheless the British government are attempting to fight this virus by natural  immunity and that does require (assuming post infection immunity can be created) large numbers of people to become infected.

 

That is what the government are attempting to do, Citizens, including children are their test subjects in this experiment.

[Orac]

I am no fan of the current govt and have great reservations about how they are handling this, however, there are some very tough decisions being made and the ‘science’ they have to rely on paints a very grim picture.

 

For those looking for a long read there is a link below to the Imperial College’s latest impact assessment which has a bleak summary at the bottom of the first page.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf

Bottom line is that suppression seems to be working in the short term in some places but will society be able to handle it for possibly in excess of 18 months.

 

[samran]

I’m kinda sympathetic to the argument of leaving schools open. For the time being it’s the preferred position of Australian state governments. The thinking is if you keep kids at school then you free up parents - many of whom will work in essential services - to keep doing their jobs at an important time. 

[superal]

16 minutes ago, samran said:

I’m kinda sympathetic to the argument of leaving schools open. For the time being it’s the preferred position of Australian state governments. The thinking is if you keep kids at school then you free up parents - many of whom will work in essential services - to keep doing their jobs at an important time. 

I understand your views and it is a difficult scenario . My point is although children are the least affected by the virus they will be carriers   , so in essence a school of 1000 pupils will have the capability of spreading this disease big time when out of school . Had the schools been closed it would not happen and therefore a large decrease of infections which in turn lessens the medical burden   

We are buying time in the hope that a vaccine is produced , in fact I read today that a vaccine is on trial with 4 volunteers in the USA taking part and bypassing animal testing but at least 18 months away from being available to the general public .

[Scott Tracy]

Damned if you do and damned if you don't.... So many experts, so many differing opinions.

[chilly07]

Regarding the UK population as a 'Herd' and take no further shut down action doesn't  work with  Flu and won't  work  with covid 19. The idiots 'running' that country are truly demonstrating a Herd mentality worried only about the Economy and their investments not their citizens!

[metisdead]

Some troll posts and replies have been removed.

 

A post using a video from an unapproved YouTube site has been removed as well as the replies. 

[Thingamabob]

No easy answers on this. Personally I would keep schools open, and most other venues as well. The virus infection is bad, and people will and are dying, but the long term effects of the shutdowns will be a far bigger disaster.

[bristolboy]

28 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

No easy answers on this. Personally I would keep schools open, and most other venues as well. The virus infection is bad, and people will and are dying, but the long term effects of the shutdowns will be a far bigger disaster.

ONe of the huge problems associated with closing down schools is the question of income. How many of these childrens' parents have to work for a living just to make ends meet. This is an especially grave question in countries such as the USA and the UK where social benefits are low to begin with.

[metisdead]

A post commenting on moderation has been removed.

[dunroaming]

5 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

And as soon as a child is tested positive, all schools will be closed. Who will be the clown then.

As the father of a child in school in the UK I do have some local insight.  He is in year 11 and revising for his GCSEs at the moment.  There have been a coupe of cases of teachers having Covid-19 and those schools closed for about two weeks for a deep clean. The general consensus at my son's school is that most students are very keen for the school to close and the majority of parents are very keen for it to remain open!  Probably because most parents work (both mums and dads) and it would mean at least one of them would have to stay at home.  Everyone is mortgaged up to the eyeballs around here and they need two wage packets constantly coming in.

 

I do think that eventually the schools will probably have to close for a while and our school has already set up systems to cope with that.  Lessons would be on line with all teachers available on Skype or What's App. Very doable for young teenagers but harder for the younger kids.  For Primary and Junior schools, an absolute nightmare.

 

 

[dunroaming]

3 hours ago, chilly07 said:

Regarding the UK population as a 'Herd' and take no further shut down action doesn't  work with  Flu and won't  work  with covid 19. The idiots 'running' that country are truly demonstrating a Herd mentality worried only about the Economy and their investments not their citizens!

To be fair the economy is all important.  A weakened economy means there isn't money to care for the citizens.

[Laughing Gravy]

23 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

As the father of a child in school in the UK I do have some local insight.  He is in year 11 and revising for his GCSEs at the moment. 

My sincere sympathy goes out to you and your child or young adult as they probably see themselves as.

 

Sadly exam boards are still uncertain of any contingency plans. they have extended some coursework but that is it so far.

 

25 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

Lessons would be on line with all teachers available on Skype or What's App. Very doable for young teenagers but harder for the younger kids.  For Primary and Junior schools, an absolute nightmare.

These E Learning platforms are not very good and have limited collaboration capacities. Classin, Zoom and a few others are better.

 

26 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

Probably because most parents work (both mums and dads) and it would mean at least one of them would have to stay at home.  Everyone is mortgaged up to the eyeballs around here and they need two wage packets constantly coming in

This decision will probably be taken away from them. It is a difficult situation and one that I fully understand completely.

 

Good luck it is extremely difficult times.

[dunroaming]

43 minutes ago, Laughing Gravy said:

My sincere sympathy goes out to you and your child or young adult as they probably see themselves as.

 

Sadly exam boards are still uncertain of any contingency plans. they have extended some coursework but that is it so far.

 

These E Learning platforms are not very good and have limited collaboration capacities. Classin, Zoom and a few others are better.

 

This decision will probably be taken away from them. It is a difficult situation and one that I fully understand completely.

 

Good luck it is extremely difficult times.

Thank you.

 

You are right there is "no set in stone" contingency plans.  Initially it was said that the exams would be put back until July which would be summer holidays and cause chaos with those families that are committed to go away already.  That was then deemed impractical and it was suggested taking the exams in September. That wouldn't work as most boy's in my son's school are going on to college for their A levels, starting in September,  their acceptance is obviously based on their GCSE results. 

 

Then it was muted that the students didn't take the exams at all and results were given based on their predicted targets.  It certainly seems more practical but there is a fly in the ointment.  This possible option I didn't share with my son because at a time when revision is crucial, any thought of not having to take his exams would result in him throwing his books in the bin and turning on the x-box.  Unfortunately some clown at his school (his head of year) decided to share this possible option with all the GCSE students.  As is the way with kids at this age, many have taken it as gospel!  As you can imagine, us parents are not happy.

 

As for the on-line tutoring options, you are right again, none of them work in anyway other than a temporary stop gap.  The students have been getting their homework on-line for some time and of course there are many revision pods for them to use. 

[grumpy 4680]

       If kids are kept at school, and a case of covid 19 is reported, then its a lot easier to contain. If kids are to stay at home or wander about, How are you going to find the source of infection if a child then becomes infected ???????

[superal]

Had an email from my ex wife in the UK who suffers with asthma . She is self isolating , tried to order food on line from Sainsburys and the next delivery date was 6th April . The UK is in panic mode she tells me .