London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Moral duty to get all children back in school - PM

Moral duty to get all children back in school - PM

There is a "moral duty" to get all children back into schools in England next month, Boris Johnson has said.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, he said it was the "national priority" after months without in-person education during the coronavirus pandemic.

Government advisers have warned of risks in the plans to open up society.

Geoff Barton, head of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) union, said schools should have been a priority "right from the beginning".

The prime minister is understood to have made clear that schools should be the last sector to shut in any future local lockdowns.

A Downing Street source said Mr Johnson believes the harm being done to children's education prospects and mental health by not attending school is far more damaging than the risk posed to them by the virus.

The source said in the event of future stricter local lockdowns, the PM's expectation was that schools would be the last sector to be closed, after businesses like shops and pubs.

Schools across the UK closed on 20 March, except to children of key workers or vulnerable children. On 1 June, they began a limited reopening for early years pupils, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6.

The current plan is for most children across the country to be back in class by next month.

Guidance on reopening has been published for England. There are also separate plans for Wales, Northern Ireland and also Scotland, where schools are scheduled to return from Tuesday.

In his article, Mr Johnson said: "This pandemic isn't over, and the last thing any of us can afford to do is become complacent.

"But now that we know enough to reopen schools to all pupils safely, we have a moral duty to do so."





The PM also warned of the "spiralling economic costs" of parents and carers being unable to work.

He added: "Keeping our schools closed a moment longer than absolutely necessary is socially intolerable, economically unsustainable and morally indefensible."

Shadow education secretary Kate Green told Times Radio it was "essential" that schools reopen next month, but would not say whether schools were safe yet.

The Labour MP said the government could be doing more to support teachers, such as providing extra resources for staggered start times and additional cleaning.

Analysis

By Matthew Cole, BBC political reporter

All children were meant to be back in England's classrooms before the summer holidays - but that plan failed.

Now the prime minister is making it clear he is committed to things being different in September.

He is putting considerable political weight behind the plan to keep schools open - making it very much a test of his government.

Labour is questioning the safety measures for reopening, and voices within the party say the current test and trace system will need significant improvement to ensure pubs do not have to close to keep classrooms open.

But that aside there is a broad consensus across the political spectrum that closing all other things before schools is the right idea.

The ASCL union has urged greater clarity - rather than rhetoric - from the government on its schools policy, citing confusion over advice on the wearing of face coverings by pupils.

Its head, Mr Barton, told the BBC: "It is a little bit rich I think to be hearing a prime minister say this is a priority. It should have been a priority right from the beginning."

Meanwhile, the children's commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, told BBC Breakfast schools "should be the last to close their doors and the first to open".

She added that she would like to see regular testing in schools.

However, schools minister Nick Gibb told Times Radio he does not support routine testing for teachers and pupils who do not have symptoms.

'Enthusiasm waning'


The PM's comments have been welcomed by some parents whose children have been out of the classroom for several months.

Claire, from Bristol, said her two children - one in Year 8 and another in Year 10 - were keen to return to school in September.

"I am so proud of the way that both my children coped with home school, they were up at 08:00 BST every day and completed almost everything that was set, however towards the end their enthusiasm was waning and they are looking forward to returning," she told the BBC.

"They need that teacher and pupil interaction to keep them motivated."

But concerns remain about schools returning among other parents.

Dr L Kohli, from Warwickshire, has a 15-year-old son with a heart condition, who has been shielding since February. She will not be sending him and her eight-year-old child back to school, and has instead arranged online learning.

"It is my role as a parent to mitigate risks. That includes the risk mitigation of this government and the abysmal Covid-19 response placed on my family," Dr Kohli told the BBC.





The schools minister said this week that the government could not "decree" that classroom education would be prioritised, as decisions would be made by local health chiefs.

However, Mr Gibb told the BBC all children in England would be returning to school next month, including in those areas currently affected by local lockdowns, amid a spike in cases.

A rise in cases in a number of areas across England prompted the prime minister to pause the easing of the lockdown nationally last month.

Speaking at the time, Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, warned the nation had "probably reached near the limit or the limits" of what can be done to reopen society safely.

"What that means, potentially, is if we wish to do more things in the future we may have to do less of some other things," he said.

Prof Neil Ferguson, a former member of the government's scientific advisory group, Sage, whose modelling led to the decision to impose the lockdown, also suggested ministers would need to "row back on the relaxation of restrictions" to allow a full-time return to schools and keep the virus under control.

On Sunday, the UK reported a further 8 people had died after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total to 46,574. A further 1,062 people tested positive for Covid-19.



Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×