Schools: Coronavirus

(asked on 8th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what scientific advice his Department has received from SAGE on the comparative level of risk and benefit to children of being in school during the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 16th December 2020

The UK’s Chief Medical Officers have been clear that school attendance is very important for children and young people. Children and young people are at low risk from COVID-19, but being out of school causes significant long-term harm to learning, life chances and mental and physical health.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department has made decisions informed by data, analysis and advice from a number of different sources, including the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), Public Health England, the Office for National Statistics and the Joint Biosecurity Centre, to ensure our policies are guided by the most up to date scientific evidence.

More recently, SAGE endorsed a paper co-authored by the Children’s Task and Finish Working Group and the Department on the benefits of remaining in education. This paper outlined key evidence and considerations associated with the closure of schools.

The scientific evidence papers from SAGE meetings are published in tranches and are available by following the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/scientific-evidence-supporting-the-government-response-to-coronavirus-covid-19.

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