WITH schools reopening after months of the Covid lockdown the Government has announced several crucial factors for the return of education.

The Prime Minister decreed it to be a ‘national priority’ for schools to reopen in September, and for staff and students to undergo mandatory weekly Covid tests in an effort to keep people safe.

The Government has also threatened to fine parents who do not let their children return.

Over the past several weeks, many have called for the Government to clarify its position on schools reopening, and to reassure parents that children will be kept safe from the virus.

The Prime Minister recently wrote in the Mail on Sunday that keeping schools closed would be 'economically unsustainable and morally indefensible'.

MP Tim Farron insisted the Government has three weeks to sort out track and trace before the children return to school.

He said: “Our young people have lost so much over the last few months, but I am proud of their resilience and positivity and the hard work and professionalism of their teachers through this time.

“Going back to school ‘as normal’ in September is important but it must be made safe. So many heads that I speak to worry that the Government are not providing them with the resources they need to keep their students and their staff safe.

“While it seems that young people don’t tend to suffer from Covid-19, they can catch and spread it, and so the Government has just three weeks to transform the test and trace programme from the poor state that it is in now to one that will actually allow us to keep our children and their families safe.”

Councillor Pat Bell of Kendal Ward added: “I think testing shouldn’t be mandatory, just encouraged, because it’s just a question of having the facilities to do that many tests. Fining parents is a step too far, they should be encouraged, not threatened.”

A Cumbria County Council spokesperson insisted fines will only be issue following a referral.

The spokesperson said: “The council is supporting schools across the county to make their own decisions and provisions for reopening in the best interests of their pupils and communities at the start of the Autumn term in September.

"We will continue to work closely with schools and families to ensure children are able to return to school safely. Fines will only be issued following a referral from a school if an absence is recorded that does not meet the criteria for a justified absence from school, and all other attempts to encourage a return to school have been unsuccessful.”