Boris Johnson says parents will be forced by law to send their children back to school in September
BORIS Johnson says parents will be forced to send their kids back to school in September.
The PM said school closures during the coronavirus pandemic were a "massive problem".
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"We need to get the kids back into school. I want all pupils back in school by September," he told the .
Mr Johnson said it would be "the law" for kids to be in class by September.
He also said teaching unions - who don't want schools reopened yet due to safety fears - should "take their responsibilities seriously".
"It’s the kids from the poorer families who aren’t going back, and so you are entrenching social injustice,"; Mr Johnson said.
Parents' pressure group Us For Them cautiously welcomed Mr Johnson's calls for kids to get back in class.
"Our 10,000 supporters now urgently need more clarity from the Prime Minister," co-founder Molly Kingsley said.
"We call for an explicit statement that there will be no social distancing in schools and we want a return to normalised full-time education for all year groups, and all schools.
"This is now the greatest emergency facing our country and our members will be watching the Government’s next moves closely."
Earlier this week, Mr Johnson told MPs that school education will begin in September with “full attendance” after relaxing social distancing rules to just one metre.
He said it would help schools return to full capacity by ensuring they can maximise their current “bubbles” of up to 15 pupils per group.
The PM urged parents to send children back to school insisting it is safe as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer finally backed the reopening of schools.
He said: "Primary and secondary education will recommence in September with full attendance and those children who can already go to school should do so because it is safe."
But union chiefs claimed that relaxing the two-metre social distancing rule will still not allow all pupils in England to return to school in September as there is not enough space in classrooms.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders dismissed the PM's claims as “pure fantasy”.
He said: "It may be possible to accommodate more pupils in classrooms with a one-metre (plus) separation, but not all pupils.
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"There just isn't enough space in many classrooms to do this.
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"It isn't a magic bullet, and nor is the Education Secretary's suggestion on Friday of doubling the size of social bubbles to 30, in order to facilitate a full return to schools."
He added: "We need a proper strategy to bring children back into schools and colleges based in reality and on public health guidance."
