Early school closure ruled out by Welsh Government despite technical advice suggesting possible pandemic benefit

The first minister has ruled out early school closures in Wales to allow for a period of “pre-isolation” ahead of the temporary changes to household bubbles over the Christmas period.

Last week the Welsh Government and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) announced that a “common approach had been agreed” to keep schools open in the run-up to the end of December term.

This decision was made in a bid to “ensure a consistent as possible level of provision across Wales in ongoing challenging circumstances.”

At the time a spokesperson for the Welsh Government said that whilst there is an expectation for schools to operate as usual up, it is recognised that for “exceptional local public health and safety reasons moving to remote learning may be considered an alternative option.”

However the latest advice document from Wales’ Technical Advisory Cell warned that the upcoming Christmas period would likely see “increased opportunities for transmission of the disease.”

In the advisory document reference was also made to schools, stating that whilst “a period of pre-isolation for families with children as a result of school closures could reduce the level of social mixing ahead of 23-28 December if school attendance and wider social mixing associated with schools being open was not replaced by other social mixing activities.”

This would mean children would have to be taken out of school from this Friday to ensure the 10 day isolate period is complete in time for December 23 when three households are allowed to bubble up for five days.

During yesterday’s First Minister Questions Leader of the Plaid Cymru Party, Adam Price, asked if the Welsh Government was now considering closing schools early to allow for the period of pre-isolation.

He said: “In the TAC advice that I just referred to, they do say that a period of pre-isolation for families with children, as a result of school closures, could reduce the level of social mixing ahead of the 23 to 28 December period, and therefore have a beneficial effect in terms of saving lives.

“Are you considering this as an option, First Minister, and if you are, could you say when you would plan on announcing it?

“And what mitigating measures would you put in place, in the form of blended learning, the continued operation of hub schools, for example, to minimise wider harms, and would you agree that it’s essential that no child’s education or wider welfare should be unfairly disadvantaged as a result of this?”

First Minister Mark Drakeford ruled out closing schools early ahead of Christmas, warning that there was no guarantee that the pre-isolation period would take place.

He said: “I want very strongly to endorse today the joint statement made between the Welsh Government and the Welsh Local Government Association, which urges schools to remain open until the last day of term, while recognising that there will be individual sets of circumstances where that will not be possible.

“Of course, Mr Price is right—I’ve brought the document with me this afternoon expecting it would be referred to here—that a period of restraint for 10 days before the Christmas period would be to the advantage of all families.

“The real problem is that we do not have confidence, from the behavioural evidence, that if children are not in school, that they would simply be being kept at home and kept away from the contacts that would otherwise create greater risk.

“The fear is that children who are not in school will be in even riskier environments.

“If I thought that those young people would genuinely be at home, genuinely self-isolating, genuinely creating that period before Christmas to keep them safe, I’d be attracted to the idea.

“I’m afraid the risks are that that simply wouldn’t happen, that those children would be doing riskier things than they would in school.”