Labour is leading the fight against COVID in County Durham classrooms, after securing Council support for clean air measures and improved PPE.
In a motion to Durham County Council by Labour Shadow Member for Children and Young People, Cllr Olwyn Gunn, gained enough support from members to write to the Education Secretary to request urgent supply of free air filtration devices for all classrooms and high-grade medical masks for clinically vulnerable staff and pupils.
So far, the Government has only made available some 7,000 air filters for an estimated 300,000 classrooms in England, meaning County Durham’s allocation would only be a measly six air filters in six classrooms in the county’s 266 schools. Cllr Gunn said:
“We must do everything we can to make schools safe. Some classrooms in our old school buildings – neglected during 12 years of Tory underinvestment – are so poorly ventilated that even rooms with doors left wide open in this freezing weather show CO2 traces well above recommended levels.
“Ridding classrooms of contaminated air must be a priority. Pupils, school staff and parents have adapted to extremes of circumstances over the past two years, with teachers often putting their students’ needs ahead of their own health, and I cannot thank them enough.
“Children need to be in school. To do this safely, investment is essential – and will protect young people and staff from future health issues and could be the key to improving our County’s health as we recover from this dreadful pandemic.
“It is now up to us to act sensibly and decisively and in one united voice, call on this Government to, at long last, invest in our young people, invest in our teachers, invest in our school support staff, and invest in clean air classrooms.
“If the Government can spend £38 billion of taxpayers’ money on a failed Test and Trace system, it can use the public purse to protect children and school staff as a matter of urgency.”
Cllr Gunn’s motion has gained in significance, as it was submitted before the Prime Minister scrapped “Plan B” that includes the wearing of face masks for secondary pupils, further heightening the risk of infection at school. Seconding the motion, Cllr Veronica Andrews, said:
“Air filtration in classrooms is not only a wise move to protect people now, it represents a smart investment that has the potential to futureproof schools and colleges against potentially harmful new variants of COVID19 and other airborne viruses, saving thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of education hours lost to sickness.
“Putting this into perspective, the cost of fitting an air purifier into every classroom in the UK amounts to around half the cost of a new Royal Yacht. Surely the health of a nation’s young people is more important than the transportation of our Royal Family?”
Council rejected an amended put by Conservative Leader, Cllr Richard Bell, who questioned the need for filtration in every classroom, suggesting opening doors and windows were adequate. Cllr Ian McLean added:
“The Conservative’s amendment is pathetic. It dismisses offhand the safety of our children and school staff and doesn’t say anything other than “let’s look at quick fixes”.
“If you look on Eton School’s website, it proudly boasts that every classroom has its own air purifier – I’d ask the question, why is it good enough for the pupils at Eton, but not good enough for ours in Horden?”
The motion asks the Secretary of State for Education to keep children and school staff safe, protect them as much as possible from Covid now, from any further Covid variants and to fully commit to their future health and education.