He was badly briefed
You have evidence for that? Who briefed him? Who wrote the briefing reports? What were they errors in the data?
The biggest at present is that the squabble with the teachers (most with unions) has not been diffused by a simple logical action.
Squabble?
For someone who claimed on the coronavirus thread that the government do understand the importance of language, refering to this as a 'squabble' is quite a failing from you.
The teachers' unions are among of the most well-respected, well-organised and strongest unions, the actions of the unions are well supported by union members. I don't know a single teacher who doesn't support their union's current position on the government's plan to reopen schools, and the unions are maintaining this position because that is what the
membership wants - the unions are not, as the likes of the Telegraph and Mail would have you belive, preventing teachers from returning to school settings if they wish. They are protecting their membership. It is completely disingenuous for the press to suggest otherwise.
We have the five conditions set out before schools can re-open. Just make it conditional that the necessary physical changes can be made in specific schools by making the final decision on re-opening that of the Head who has to arrange them all. I think more will open with this sort of direction as it becomes a challenge?
Actually, the current guidelines
are that the final descion to reopen a given school
does lie with the Head of School. This is not with out significant issues. Not least that Heads are rarely experts in public health and safety, and state schools are almost always space-poor.
Guidelines do not insist upon social distancing, instead asks schools to do it 'where possible'. Schools have been given no additional funding to ensure that they have enough teaching materials so that pupils do not have to share, or to increase/improve hygiene facitilites.
Boris Johnson, Gavin Willimson, Michael Gove etc claim the government is 'mirroring' Denmark in its approach to reopening schools in England, when we simply cannot draw those comparisions. Denmark's infection and death rate per million is significantly lower than the UK's. Denmark currently has less than 150 people in hospital with Covid-19, the UK has around 9000. In Denmark local authority health and safety experts approve and sign off on a school's individual plans for reopening.
Oh, and of course amongst those children in England who will be returning to school aged 4/5 when children in Denmark don't go to school until they are 6/7...
The government likes to draw international comparisions when it suits them, but when others do it they are quick to deflect it with claims that it isn't appropriate to draw such comparisions... More appropriate to compare the UK with Italy who are not reopening schools until September. France reopened schools and is now having to close 70-odd schools again because of Covid-19 outbreaks.
