Secondary schools and colleges in Wales will move to online learning from Monday

SECONDARY schools and colleges in Wales will move to online learning from Monday, December 14 as part of a ‘national effort to reduce transmission of coronavirus’ Education Minister Kirsty Williams confirmed today.

The Minister made it clear that, thanks to the efforts of education staff across the country, schools and colleges are safe and secure environments, with almost half of all Welsh schools having had zero covid cases since September.

However, it is also recognised that education settings being open can contribute to wider social mixing outside the school and college environment.

By making this decision, the Minister felt it was important to make a ‘clear, national direction’ to take pressure off individual schools, colleges, local authorities, parents and carers.

The Minister said her decision followed expert advice from Wales’s Chief Medical Officer showing that the public health situation in Wales was deteriorating.

The latest TTP data shows that rates of Covid-19 have further increased across Wales and have now exceeded 370/100k with a test positivity of 17%.

The R rate in Wales has increased to 1.27 with a doubling time of just 11.7 days.

Education Minister Kirsty Williams said: “Every day, we are seeing more and more people admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms.

“The virus is putting our health service under significant and sustained pressure and it is important we all make a contribution to reduce its transmission.

“In his advice to me today, the CMO recommends that a move to online learning should be implemented for secondary school pupils as soon as is practicable.

“I can therefore confirm that a move to online learning should be implemented for secondary school pupils and college students from Monday next week.

“We recognise, as we did during the firebreak, that it is more difficult for primary and special school age children to undertake self-directed learning.

“That is why we are encouraging primary and special schools to continue to stay open.

“Having spoken to local education leaders, I am confident that schools and colleges have online learning provision in place.

“This will also be important in ensuring that students are at home during this time, learning and staying safe.

“Critically, and this is very important, children should be at home.

“This is not an early Christmas holiday, please do everything you can to minimise your contact with others.”

“The education family in Wales has pulled together so many times this year to make a real difference to the course of this virus and ultimately to save lives and I know we can do the same again.

“Together we will keep Wales safe.”

Commenting on the statement today that secondary schools and colleges will close on Monday (December 14) as part of the Welsh Government’s plan to reduce transmission of Covid-19, the Shadow Health Education Minister – Suzy Davies MS – said:

“This is another instance in just the last couple of days of mixed and confusing messages coming from the government here, and doesn’t take into account differing rates of infection across Wales.

“I am pleased that primary schools will remain open. I hope that the repeated reassurances about the low infection and transmission risk in younger children will mean a good attendance rate. The last week of the Christmas term is always a special time in primary schools.

“However, the First Minister, on Tuesday, sounded sceptical about whether secondary school children would genuinely be safer at home, even though there are higher transmission rates among older pupils. I share his concerns about the temptation to mix outside of the ‘bubbles’ formed in schools, especially as the recent rises are very evident in young adults.

“Today, the Education Minister, bowing to pressure from teaching unions, who seem to dominate education in Wales, has taken a different view. I wish she’d listened to school leaders who would tell her you can’t switch an entire secondary school onto online learning overnight

“There is no doubt that the situation is grave in parts of Wales, but I would have preferred targeted interventions where needed, not another blanket ban.

“However confusing and contradictory for parents this is, I suppose the best thing to say is that at least she has made a decision, unlike during the summer when she left it up to LEAs and headteachers to decide. It just happens to be one I and many others disagree with.”

The Education Minister stated that she is “encouraging” primary and special schools to continue to stay open. Education for other learners will be placed online.

Mrs Davies added: “The success of online learning has, to say the least, been patchy across Wales.

“I, and I’d say many parents of secondary-age learners, will be looking for far more detail and reassurance from the Education Minister that after a year of missed lessons and lost learning time, there will be work to see these students through until the end of term.”