Sheffield MP calls for priority Covid vaccines for teachers as pressure grows on Government to reopen schools

Louise Haigh, MP for Sheffield Heeley, spoke out amid speculation that schools will not reopen after the February half-term as ministers had originally hoped.

The Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is widely expected to confirm the news this week, with some educational leaders believing it is highly unlikely that schools will reopen before mid-April.

It comes as Boris Johnson faces pressure to set out a timetable for pupils to return as concerns grow over the impact an extended period away from school could have on their education.

Ms Haigh said: “Every day that our children are out of education is hurting their futures and risks widening the attainment gap for our most deprived and vulnerable children. We’ve already seen the impact of the first lockdown on increasing inequality and we cannot allow this to continue without seriously damaging children’s life chances.

"In order to get schools reopened as quickly as possible we need to get rates down in communities and teachers and teaching staff need to feel safe. That means a much stricter lockdown than the one we’re in, fixing test and trace and vaccinating teachers a priority.”

The Prime Minister said the Government would be “looking at the potential of relaxing some measures” as England’s lockdown restrictions are reviewed on February 15 but could not guarantee that pupils would return to classes before Easter.

“There’s nothing I want to do more than reopen schools, I’ve fought to keep schools open for as long as I possibly could,” Mr Johnson said.

“We want to see schools back as fast as possible, we want to do that in a way that is consistent with fighting the epidemic and keeping the infection rate down.”

Currently only vulnerable children and those whose parents are key workers are attending school, while the rest face learning remotely from home.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the Government would examine the data “and that will inform what we may or may not be able to ease from (February) 15 onwards”.

He added: “It has always been our intention to ease restrictions where we can from that point on the 15th, and schools are obviously our top priority.”

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