English schools reopen, but not without a fight

ON MAY 10TH, in the speech in which he began to lift the lockdown, Boris Johnson said he hoped schools would welcome back pupils at the start of June. The announcement was heavily caveated. Getting older children in before the summer break was an “ambition”. Primary schools would reopen with only three year groups. “I must stress again that all of this is conditional, it all depends on a series of big ifs,” the prime minister warned.

If the statement was designed to reassure, it did not succeed. The National Education Union, the country’s biggest teaching union, reckons that around 35 local councils in England are advising their schools to hold off; a rebellion the union has loudly supported. In some cases, schools won’t open because of problems putting in place precautions. More often, it is because they are unconvinced it is safe even with precautions. According to Teacher Tapp, a pollster, 60% of state-school teachers say they are “nervous” to return.