Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has said he is “absolutely confident” that secondary schools in England will be able to run a mass testing regime with an extra week to prepare.
He told Sky News: “In terms of secondary year groups, the reason that we have moved that back is so we give all schools, every single school, every single college that teaches secondary-age pupils the opportunity to roll out a mass testing regime, making sure we root out this coronavirus.
“It’s not just about making it safer for pupils, it’s not just about making it safer for those who work in schools, but actually it’s about rooting out coronavirus in our communities and we did need to give schools a little bit extra time.”
Asked if a week was enough time to prepare for a functioning mass testing system, Mr Williamson said: “We are absolutely confident that it is, we’ll be seeing all the testing equipment that is needed for schools being delivered on the 4th January, schools have already had notice of the guidance of what they need to do, they’ve also had notification of the extra £78 million that we’re offering.”
The Education Secretary added that 1,500 members of the armed forces will be supporting schools in “exceptional cases” who are facing problems.
He added: “At every stage we’re making sure that children are able to benefit from getting a brilliant education that we want all our children to get.”
