Boris Johnson says DfE failed to plan for school closures during Covid crisis

"We were focused on trying to delay the peak of the pandemic and we thought that the closure of schools, if it had to be used at all, would be a measure of last resort, the former prime minister said. He added: It was my impression that the work was being done. I certainly, let me put it this way, I certainly assumed that the work was being done."

"You say so late in the day, but so late in the day is, of course, a phrase or a judgment that is only open to people who are operating with hindsight. We didn't know how Covid was being transmitted. We didn't know to what extent children and young people were affected by it. We didn't know the state of the pandemic in the country."

"Johnson made it clear he initially believed school closures as being necessary only at the peak of the pandemic, until scientific advice changed to say that closures would help stop Covid's rapid spread. It felt to me as though children, who are not vulnerable to Covid, were paying a huge, huge price to protect the rest of society. It was an awful thing. I wish we had found another solution,"

Boris Johnson placed responsibility on the Department for Education for a lack of detailed planning for school closures at the pandemic’s outset, saying he assumed such work was happening. He said closures were seen as a last resort while government focused on delaying the pandemic peak and that there were abundant internal discussions, including from the DfE. The DfE’s permanent secretary said the first detailed plan request arrived on 17 March. Johnson argued that judgments about timing rely on hindsight amid uncertainty about transmission and children’s vulnerability, and said children paid a heavy price.

Read at www.theguardian.com