After a lot of criticism and much uncertainty around the move to reopen schools, the UK experience appears to have been a success and the gamble has paid off: the government really needed this. While the exercise can not be seen in isolation of measures to avoid transmission of the virus, it does show that when done in combination, the policy of reopening schools is a good one. It achieves a number of things: gets children back to some sense of normality; allows parents to be freed up from the role of being a home teacher, internet police and chief motivator to avert mental health issues and boredom, though this does not include the usual parenting tasks. However, as the Economist article points out, while “removing restrictions went better than expected in England. That does not mean some will not have to be reimposed over the coming months”. Much caution is still required, but relieving families from home schooling of the past term (albeit with some form of online classes) will be positive for all concerned, probably especially the teachers who are back to doing what they do best in the way they are most comfortable.
