Boris Johnson has admitted he does not like the idea of schoolchildren having to wear facemasks – and has promised they would not be kept longer than ‘is necessary’.
The Prime Minister – under pressure after a series of sleaze allegations engulfed the Tories last year – insisted science backed the restrictions.
His own MPs have criticised the guidance, which will also see every secondary school pupils be tested for Covid.
Mr Johnson said there was scientific evidence the face coverings could cut transmission rates.
He added: ‘There’s an increasing body of scientific support for the idea that face masks can contain transmission.
‘We don’t want to keep them. I don’t like the idea of having face masks in (the) classroom any more than anybody else does, but we won’t keep them on a day more than is necessary.’
It came as schools said the Government’s plans for more testing and the facemasks will be ‘challenging’ and could inadvertently spark the return of online learning.
The Department for Education says head teachers have access to their own supply of coronavirus swabs to meet demand.
This is despite there being a nationwide test shortages – with ministers saying a stash has already been sent to each school. They will be swabbed on site on the first day, then pupils will be expected to take lateral flow tests themselves at home twice a week as well.
Caroline Derbyshire, executive head at Saffron Walden County High School in Essex, and leader of Saffron Academy Trust, said: ‘We know that (staff shortages) will be a factor and there will be schools in particular parts of the country where rates have been extremely high where staffing will be difficult.
‘But this sort of mass of supply teachers that are supposed to be there – that’s not happened, has it, so if we have got shortages it’ll be colleagues who are in school who’ll be doing most of the covering.’
She said the idea of merging classes, as suggested by Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi in the event of shortages, had already been carried out by schools ‘all term last term’, but it was ‘not a long-term solution’.
She said staff shortages would ‘absolutely’ make remote learning more likely, adding: ‘If you hit a certain point with staff absences in a big school you’re talking about maybe 10 members of staff being off.
‘You’ve suddenly got the inability to run a year group – that’s when you start having either year groups or whole parts of schools having to go online, so that’s when you’re going to have that mixed economy of some students being in school and some at home.’
She said this would be ‘a feature of this half term that we will have to manage, I don’t think anyone’s looking forward to it at all’.
Darren Gelder the head of Grace Academy in Solihull, which has 1,000 people and sits on the NASUWT union, told the Today programme: ‘The testing we knew before the Christmas break so that was something we had already set up
‘The organisation of that was already in place and ready to go.
‘We had already started to put tests in place. We have been carrying a fairly large stock.’
Pupils will be expected to take lateral flow tests twice a week as well when they go back tomorrow
Department for Education says head teachers have access to their own supply of coronavirus swabs to meet demand
It comes after the Education Secretary said entire classes may need to be merged into larger groups or sent home to work remotely due to teacher absences caused by coronavirus.
Schools may find it ‘impossible’ to deliver face-to-face teaching to all pupils as the Omicron variant leads to mass staff shortages, Nadhim Zahawi added.
But the idea they will also have to wear masks for much of the day has been slated by former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith.
He told the Telegraph: ‘I think this move is premature. I think we’ll see Covid spike and start to fall like it did in South Africa.
The Prime Minister said that he didn’t want children to have to wear face masks for ‘longer than necessary’
‘It’s far better to test pupils for Covid than to mandate masks. They will be worn badly and won’t stop contact between kids.
‘I don’t know who they’re going to protect – the teachers should be triple jabbed by now. It’s very important that the schooling isn’t wrecked as a result of this.’
His admission came as the Department for Education confirmed that secondary school pupils will have to wear masks in classrooms.
He said this morning on LBC: ‘We know from the UK health and security agency that wearing facemasks does introduce some mitigation.
The Government has faced mounting criticism over its decision to reintroduce face masks, with critics saying it a ‘declaration of war against children’ (file image)
Pictured: The number of Covid infections in the UK yesterday
‘And if the choice is I want children in a classroom with their friends learning, then this is one of the measures we have.
‘We review it by the end of the month. As long as we see Omicron being managed, my priority are that the kids are in school learning. Teacher absenteeism is why we have used these additional mitigations because we want less infection in schools.’
People struggling to get lateral flow tests ‘should just refresh’ their webpage, the Education Secretary has suggested.
He told Sky News he had organised a separate supply of tests for schools ahead of children’s return to the classrooms.
He promised: ‘All exams are going ahead this year, this summer.
‘I think there’s a big difference from last year to this year.’
‘The priority is to keep schools open. The testing, the staffing support we’re putting in place, and of course the ventilation is going to make a big difference to schools this year.
‘The most important thing is to keep them open. We monitor staff absenteeism, I just said to you we’re running at about 8% last year. If that rises further then we look at things like merging classes, teaching in bigger numbers.
‘This is an aerosol-transmitted virus and if you’re wearing a mask, if you’re asymptomatic, then you’re less likely to infect other people.’
In an open letter to schools sent yesterday, Mr Zahawi said remote learning ‘should only be on a short-term measure’ and schools ‘should return to full-time in-person attendance for all pupils as soon as practicable’.
He added: ‘If operational challenges caused by workforce shortages in your setting make delivery of face-to-face teaching impossible, I would encourage you to consider ways to implement a flexible approach to learning.’
This could involve using all available staff to ‘maximise on-site education for as many pupils as possible’ while schools ‘flexibly deliver provision either on-site or remotely to some pupils’. However, he stressed that such arrangements must be only temporary.
Pictured: The number of Covid hospitalisations in London up until December 31
He added: ‘If operational challenges caused by workforce shortages in your setting make delivery of face-to-face teaching impossible, I would encourage you to consider ways to implement a flexible approach to learning.’
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said schools were ‘taking the additional measures announced over the weekend in their stride’ through arranging testing for pupils and informing parents and carers about the new rules on face coverings.
‘They are hoping the extra measures will be enough to minimise disruption to education this term, but only the next few weeks will show how effective they really are,’ he said.
‘The biggest concern is staffing. Teachers and school staff will be testing and reporting their results at the start of this week and only then will school leaders know who they have available and be able to properly plan.
‘School leaders will be doing everything possible to ensure a smooth return and a successful term for their students, but depending on how infection rates progress, it could be another stressful time.’
Councillor Phelim Mac Cafferty, leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, posted an open letter to Mr Zahawi on Twitter which said it would be ‘yet another school term which we fear will be filled with illness and disruption, as we try to keep our children’s education going during this new wave of the pandemic’.
He said the Department of Education’s announcement of 7,000 air cleaning units for schools, colleges and early years settings on Sunday, ‘while welcome, falls far short of the adequate number which are required, and will still leave most schools without’.
He added that the council would like face coverings recommended for older primary pupils too, while close contacts should be ‘required to isolate until they can show a negative PCR test’.
‘The educational disruption this will cause will be less than that caused by allowing this highly transmissible variant to take hold in our school communities,’ he said.
This could involve using all available staff to ‘maximise on-site education for as many pupils as possible’ while schools ‘flexibly deliver provision either on-site or remotely to some pupils’. However, he stressed that such arrangements must be only temporary.
Short of sending children home to learn remotely, other options include bringing in supply staff and combining classes into larger groups.
Less than 3 per cent of teachers were recorded as being off sick at the start of last month. But worries are growing that numbers could rise sharply – with one of Britain’s largest academy trusts saying it had experienced staff absence levels of 10 per cent.
And unions have predicted some form of disruption ‘looks sadly inevitable’ as the new term starts.
The Government has faced mounting criticism over its decision to reintroduce face masks, with critics saying it a ‘declaration of war against children’.
However teachers and unions have broadly welcomed the move, stressing that it is preferable to remote learning.
In August 2020, Boris Johnson called the notion of wearing masks in classrooms ‘nonsensical’. But the recommendation was brought in for two months last March and will again be in place from the start of the coming term until at least January 26.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: ‘Face coverings are already advised in communal areas for pupils in year 7 and above.
‘Pupils are accustomed to their use and we are sure the reintroduction of face coverings in classrooms is something that schools and colleges will take in their stride.’
Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said masks were unlikely to have a ‘significant mental health effect’ on pupils.
She added: ‘We have mask-wearing in secondary schools in Wales and Scotland, and I don’t think that it is causing a huge problem.’ And Rev Steve Chalke, the founder of academy trust Oasis Community Learning, said that while enforcing masks in classrooms was ‘not optimum’, it was ‘better than working at home’.
He told Sky News: ‘We can’t afford lost days of schooling for these children and we know from reports in the media that children being left on their own is not good for them, it’s not good for society.’
However, Tory MP Robert Halfon, chairman of the Commons education committee, told Sky News he wanted the Government to ‘set out the evidence’ in the Commons to justify the decision.
‘If masks are not required in offices or restaurants, why are we getting young kids to put them on?’ he said.
And Us For Them, a parents’ group which has campaigned against schools being closed during the pandemic, said it was ‘dumbfounded’ by the decision.
‘Kids’ faces should never be used as political pawns. This is a declaration of war against children’, the group added.
Some 7,000 air cleaning units will also be provided to schools, colleges and early-years settings to improve air quality, it was announced. And staff and pupils have been urged to self-test at home before they return and start testing twice-weekly at school.
The Department for Education said schools and colleges can obtain tests through a separate supply route and ‘will have access to more as needed’.
A Government spokesman said masks and other measures will ‘maximise the number of children in school’ for the ‘maximum amount of time’.