Teachers in the UK are concerned about what will happen when schools reopen

Schools are set to reopen in Britain next month.

While schools in Ireland will not return until September, possibly even October, the UK will begin to open their doors to students again. Classes are said to be capped at a maximum of 15 children per room but many teachers in the UK still have concerns about reopening the schools and the safety of students and staff. A major problem with the plan to reopen schools in the UK is that school staff are required to provide or make their own PPE. Teachers in Britain say it will be almost impossible to implement the new social distancing rules which as well as only 15 students per class will include having children only interact with one teacher and staggering lunch breaks. On the other hand teachers are being told to do away with the two-metre physical distancing rule. According to The Guardian, Paul Whiteman of the National Association of Head Teachers said;

"The availability of school staff, the sheer number of pupils, and the sizes of school classrooms and corridors, combined with the need for social distancing measures, mean that the government’s calculations simply don’t add up. Based on the current trajectory it seems wildly optimistic, to the point of being irresponsible, to suggest that we will be in a position to return all primary children to school within the next seven weeks. This will give false hope to families and parents that we are further along the road to recovery than we actually are."

The UK is currently dealing with one of the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Europe so it's easy to see why school staff are concerned that students may be returning too soon. Schools in Britain will be able to open under their new government rules as early as June 1.