(Title Image: Wales Online)
With the Welsh Government working on provisional plans for a phased reopening of schools, Sian Gwenllian MS (Plaid, Arfon) has raised concerns that if lessons weren’t live-streamed as standard, some students who don’t return to school will be left behind.
She said: “This type of live interaction between pupils and teachers is incredibly valuable in terms of the levels of interaction it ensures, but of course it must be done safely. The guidelines that were published yesterday set out protocols for safe live-streaming, What is needed now is for the Minister to actively encourage all schools to urgently introduce live-lessons so that no child is left behind.”
It’s been assumed that only certain groups of students will return to face-to-face lessons in the first phase of re-opening, while the children of key workers and children deemed to be vulnerable have been able to attend emergency childcare in schools since the lockdown started.
No date has been set for schools to re-open to more students in Wales.
While praising the Welsh Government’s cautious approach to school re-opening, Sian Gwenllian added that an effective track and trace system has to be put in place before students are allowed to return to school.
