WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH 2020Johnson’s battle plan ‘will make
classrooms unsafe’
Hilbre High School is the latest to shut its doors over the coronavirus crisis (AFP)
ELEANOR BUSBY
EDUCATION CORRESPONDENT
Children could be put in danger if the government goes ahead with plans to increase class sizes in the wake
of a widespread outbreak of coronavirus in the UK, teachers and nursery workers have warned.
Rules around staff-to-pupil ratios in education and childcare settings could be relaxed as part of the
government’s “battle plan” to combat the virus and ensure schools can stay open.
Teachers and children could be allowed to swap to different schools, and class sizes could be allowed to
expand above the statutory limit under emergency measures. But the National Education Union (NEU), the