SECONDARY school kids could stay off school until AFTER Easter as Michael Gove hints younger kids will return to class first.
The Cabinet Office minister suggested children in primary schools and those set to sit exams would likely be first in line to be back in class.
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It comes after The Sun revealed ministers were mulling over a "phased" reopening that would mean some kids head back to school sooner than others.
Yesterday, Boris Johnson stressed March 8 was the earliest schools would be able to open again, as he extended the lockdown by at least three weeks.
Children have already missed at least 111 school days out of a possible 190 since last March’s first Covid lockdown.
Speaking last night, the PM said: "I understand the stress and anxiety of parents coping heroically with home schooling
"I know everybody wants us to get schools open as soon as possible and that is the ambition of this Government."
And Mr Gove suggested this morning ministers would follow a similar phased reopening plan as after the first lockdown - where kids who need in-class education the most are prioritised.
Mr Gove told Good Morning Britain: "We want to make sure schools can return on the 8th of March, that's the target date, we want as many children back in the classroom as possible.
"While it's important that children, like mine, who are facing exams this year get support, it's also the case that for children in the very earliest years, remote learning is a very different proposition and the sooner we can get children back into the classroom the better."
But reopening primaries first could mean older kids are forced to wait until after Easter to head back to school.
And yesterday, deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van Tam warned the risk of older kids spreading the virus is much greater.
Professor Van Tam said while all kids can transmit Covid to others, there is "predominantly a signal towards the upper teenage years."
"The more adult-like they become, the greater the propensity (to transmit Covid)," he said.
It means older kids are more likely to pick up the virus at school and pass it on to others in their household, helping to spread it throughout the community.
Schools had been due to return on February 22.
Mr Johnson promised them two weeks’ notice and did not rule out a phased return.
He said his lockdown plan will show clearly “how we can reopen our schools, economy and get our lives back — a roadmap we can use as a country to defeat the virus and reclaim our lives.”
He said tiers will return but “we need to see impacts of vaccines on graphs of mortality”.
Education campaigners were dismayed at yesterday's announcement and are pushing for the PM to reopen primaries.
In a stormy Commons session, Tory MP Joy Morrissey said: “As a mother of a nine-year-old, I can see young children are struggling and their cognitive development is determined at this age.
“We’re storing up a lifetime of problems of anxiety, mental health, obesity by having all of our young primary-aged children at home.
“Please may I urge the Prime Minister to have courage in these final months to bring children, particularly primary-aged children, back to school as quickly as possible.”
Ex-health minister Steve Brine demanded to know why we had to wait until March 8, “given we all agree and he has said today at the despatch box that schools are safe?”
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