LOCKDOWN measures are being resurrected in schools as teachers prepare to strike.
Pupils will join online lessons from home as they did during the pandemic under contingency plans drawn up by ministers.
Lockdown measures are being resurrected in schools as teachers prepare to strike
Heads must take all reasonable steps to keep schools open but union leaders and politicians concede many will have to close.
Paul Whiteman, boss of the headteachers’ union, said they might be left with no choice but to shut schools if staffing levels fell “dangerously low”.
And Education Secretary Gillian Keegan – who is meeting the unions today for crunch talks – could not guarantee schools would close.
It poses a nightmare for parents forced to stump up for childcare or stay at home to look after their children – hitting the economy as they miss work.
Craig Beaumont of the Federation of Small Businesses said: “Closing schools and sending children home will not just hold back their education, it will also impact the economy as parents are forced to stay at home instead of going into work.”
Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said: “We are concerned about the cumulative disruption the strike action is having on the economy… and the knock on effects on parents who have to rejig their entire day or miss work.”
