The UK government has released second guidance highlighting how secondary schools should be reopened. The guidance will allow the schools to safely reopen, while maintaining social distancing.
Newly released guidelines have highlighted the need for social distancing with secondary schools finally reopens on June 15th. The guidelines were released by the Department for Education (DfE).
Secondary schools reopening
The guidelines highlighted rules to be followed by years 10 and 12 students who are expected to return to school next month. The guidance asked schools to ensure that secondary school students maintain a distance of two meters between each other.
The guidance for secondary schools was very different from what the government released for primary school students. This was in part due to the difficulty in maintaining social distancing for younger students. The DfE was aware that the task of maintaining social distancing for younger students would be close to impossible.
The report added that ensuring social distancing is adhered to by secondary schools will require students to learn at half capacity than they do. However, if a large space is available, the guidance stated that entire classes can study together as long as they maintain social distance.
Challenges cited in the report
The report also noted that secondary school education required a lot of mixing and interaction. It urged students and teachers to keep these interactions and mixing at minimal to help in the fight against coronavirus.
Public transport was also highly discouraged by the report. The guidance advised students and teachers to cycle or walk if possible and avoid public transport at all costs. For situations where one had to use public transport, they urged students to maintain social distance.
Schools were also given the freedom to decide how they wanted to proceed with face to face learning. The report indicated that it was up to them to come up with a concrete plan that does not compromise the safety of the students
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