Hayley Brocklehurst says the fact that the government left state school parents to home school was a disgrace, Joseph Palley thinks schools and universities should remain closed in January, while Frances Kelly says laptops should be provided to every child whose parents cannot afford them
It has become increasingly clear to me, as a parent of an 11-year-old and a 16-year-old in state school education in London, that some schools are probably going to close for the whole of January and possibly up until February half-term. The fact that the government has been neither discussing or admitting this as a strong possibility is a further display of weak leadership that shies away from grasping the Covid nettle.
However, there is an urgent need for proper remote, teacher-led online learning to be put in place. The fact that the government left state school parents to home school was a national disgrace. As was the fact that it was never fully challenged by the mainstream media. We accepted parent-led home schooling like a nation of lemmings. We cannot return to that. Teachers should lead teaching, not parents.