ON SUNDAY 10TH MAY, BORIS JOHNSON ANNOUNCED THAT PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND WOULD BRING BACK MORE CHILDREN ON 1ST JUNE. SINCE THEN, WORKERS IN THE NATIONAL EDUCATION UNION (NEU) HAVE LED A HUGE CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE TORIES EASING LOCK-DOWN IN EDUCATION, ARGUING THAT KEY SAFETY TESTS HAVE NOT BEEN MET AND LIVES WILL BE PUT AT RISK.
MÁIRÉAD CANAVAN IS A WELSH REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE NEU AND IS AN ICT TEACHER AT STANWELL SCHOOL IN PENARTH. SHE TALKED TO US ABOUT THE DANGER OF BRINGING LOTS OF PUPILS & TEACHERS BACK TO CLASS, WHY SHE’S THROWN HERSELF INTO STOPPING THE TORY GOVERNMENT OPENING SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND, AND WHY THE FIGHT MATTERS TO PEOPLE IN WALES.
Why shouldn’t schools open up to more pupils?
If lock-down is lifted too early that will put vulnerable children, staff and parents at risk. The government talks about children usually not being very badly affected by the virus but they seem to forget that there are adults in school looking after those children, and that these children may also have vulnerable adults at home that they may bring the virus home to. There is also the fact that the numbers may be small, but children have died from the virus too and ethnic minority pupils and adults seem to be especially at risk.
Social distancing is impossible, even in hubs where there are far fewer children and the younger the children, the harder it is to impose distancing. Schools will have to be completely redesigned to be safe. Corridors in secondary schools are usually packed when moving from classroom to classroom and how will lunch and break times be managed?
What are parents saying?
Many parents are very worried about children going back to school too soon and I’ve heard several saying they wouldn’t send their children back before September. Unfortunately the families who would have no choice but to send their children to school are the families who are living in poverty, single parents and those from ethnic minority backgrounds, and they are the ones that are most vulnerable to falling ill with the virus.
So why is the Tory government saying schools must re-open?
It seems clear that behind the push to get primary school children back to school first is the need for childcare so that parents can get back to work. It would be much safer to get older children back in small numbers first and there is more chance of them understanding the need to distance, but the Westminster government’s main aim seems to be getting the economy back on track.
What was the reaction to Boris Johnson’s speech 11 days ago, when he first mentioned June 1st as the day more pupils would come back?
It was a complete shock to everybody really. In Wales the government has been working with unions and they are working towards a framework for opening schools.
In England however, the unions have been shut out of a lot of those meetings. But it still was a complete shock and it was completely unexpected when Boris said that. So it threw everybody into a huge panic.
They just haven’t shown us that it’s safe to return. They’re telling us it’s safe but they’re not willing to show us why it’s safe. They need to show us the science and they don’t seem to be willing to do that. Four times we’ve written to them and they still haven’t done it.
Describe the resistance there has been to Johnson’s plans?
The organising has been huge. We’ve had meetings going from a reps meeting last week of 300, to last night an all members meeting and there were 20,000 people on the call.
I mean we’re recruiting so many new members. We’ve had 10,000 new members since Boris’s announcement, in just over a week.
And that’s because teachers are terrified, they’re looking to the NEU to show them what we’re going to do next, how we’re going to deal with the next step in the crisis. And the NEU has really stepped up.
We’re on the front line, leading the way and taking on the local authorities and saying to the government: “No, you know we’re not going to do it. It’s not safe.” We’re fighting for the right to be safe at work.
So what is the mood like amongst teachers now?
I mean teachers want to be back in school, it’s just that we think it’s not safe. A lot of teachers are very worried about the children that they’re teaching. We know that there’s a lot of children who are cooped up in flats who maybe have one computer in a house full of people and we know that some children are in a very bad situation. So there’s a lot of worries.
A lot of us would like to be back in school but we don’t feel like we should have to put our lives in danger.
I think there’s a rising sense of anger among teachers at the way that we’re being scapegoated. I mean it’s just not true to say that teachers are sitting at home enjoying an extended holiday, because teachers are working harder than ever actually.
You know they’re trying to support children with home learning. A lot of teachers have never stopped being in schools or hubs on a rota, and a lot of teachers are struggling trying to home teach their own children as well while they are also trying to support other people’s children.
So, yeah, there’s a rising sense of anger and that is indicative in how many new members, and how many people are willing to step up to the plate and be a union rep now. We’ve always had trouble with that before, people didn’t really want to raise their heads above the parapet and that’s really changing.
Do you think the Tory Government has been shocked by the scale of resistance?
Yeah, I think they probably are very surprised. It seems like it’s gonna backfire on them.
Today the tide seems to be turning and up to 1,500 primary schools in England are expected to remain closed on 1 June after a rebellion by at least 18 councils forced the government to say it had no plans to sanction them. Many other councils still haven’t made a final decision and we’ve also heard that the Justice Secretary is quoted in the Guardian today as saying it’s important to listen to the concerns of councils and teachers. With just 11 days until the government’s schools deadline, the local government association which represents most local authorities in England now appears to be pulling back on a June 1 start saying councils should be able to see up to date figures on local rates of infection.
And why should people in Wales care about this dispute?
Well, because it could be us next and, and it will be us next. I mean we don’t know what’s going to happen here yet. We do know that the Welsh Government is being more reasonable and taking things more slowly but we don’t know. There could be any number of pressures that suddenly come into play and it could happen here. I’ve no doubt that we could suddenly be told. “Oh well but we have to go back before the summer, we have to go back to the beginning of July.” It’s definitely something that could happen here and so we need to be in solidarity and we need to know what’s going on in England so that we are prepared in case that happens here.
One of our supply teachers from Cardiff, Joao Ruivo, shared a letter that was suitable for Welsh MPs which says “we know this doesn’t affect us but you’re in Westminster so please raise it.” We’re limited in what we can do, but we can certainly make sure that we are raising hell about it and making sure that people are putting pressure from here as well.
Máiréad Canavan represents Wales on the national executive of the NEU. She is also the NEU secretary for the Vale of Glamorgan and is an ICT teacher at Stanwell School in Penarth. She lives in Pontypridd.
