Secondary schools across most of England are to remain closed for an extra two weeks for most pupils, to help regain control of coronavirus.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told the Commons that exam-year pupils would return a week earlier than their schoolmates in the week of 11 January.
And in a small number of areas with the highest infection rates, primaries will remain closed temporarily.
Mr Williamson said temporary shutdowns would cut chains of transmission.
It comes after most of England was put into the toughest Tier 4 restrictions, and follows warnings from medics about pressure on hospitals and from government scientists about the increasing contagiousness of the new strain of coronavirus.
Mr Williamson said the delay in reopening secondary schools would allow head teachers to develop and set up mass testing plans for their pupils.
He said: "Because Covid infection rate is particularly high among this age group, we are going to allow more time so that every school and college is able to fully roll out testing for their pupils and staff.
"This kind of mass testing will help protect not just children and young people, but benefit everyone in the community.
"It will break those chains of transmission that are making infection rates shoot up."
It would also ensure schools were safer when pupils did return, he said.
The small number of primary schools affected would be re-opened as soon as possible, Mr Williamson said, adding that testing for primary school staff would continue.
'Last-minute mess'
It is a significant step, as ministers have repeatedly stated that schools would remain open - and even threatened council areas which wanted to close their schools early for Christmas with legal action.
The general secretary of the Nasuwt teachers' union, Patrick Roach, said the announcement offered belated clarity but did not go far enough.
"Stronger preventative action is needed to limit the further transmission of the coronavirus in schools and colleges, including enabling the greater use of remote and blended learning which would enable effective social distancing which is vital to minimising virus transmission."
The leader of the National Association of Head Teachers, Paul Whiteman, said: "This is another last-minute mess which could so easily have been avoided if the government had listened to school leaders before the holidays.
"Instead, back then, schools which wanted to shift to remote learning were threatened with legal action. Now we have a situation where the government is instructing schools to reduce the amount of teaching time available.
"If we'd had the freedom to take action before the holidays, we might have been in a position to have more schools open for more pupils. School leaders will be baffled, frustrated and justifiably angry tonight."
Schools were struggling to remain Covid-safe during the autumn term, despite the intense efforts of teachers and staff, with huge numbers of pupils contracting the virus and then being sent home.
All primary schools had been due to fully reopen on 4 January, along with secondary schools opening for vulnerable children and those sitting exams this year (Years 11 and 13).
Remaining secondary school pupils were to start term working remotely from home.
Effectively the whole process has been shunted back a week. This is two weeks after the usual start of term.
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How are the other UK nations returning to school?
- Scotland: Schools will start term on 11 January, with learning taking place online until at least 18 January.
- Wales: Term will start with online learning, but the majority of pupils are expected to resume face-to-face lessons by 11 January. A full return to the classroom is expected to be completed by 18 January.
- Northern Ireland: All schools will initially reopen for face-to-face teaching at the start of term, but years 8 to 10 will move to remote learning from 25 January for at least two weeks.
Schools in all the UK nations are remaining open for vulnerable children. England, Wales and Scotland have also committed to maintaining face-to-face teaching for children of key workers.
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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiLWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL2VkdWNhdGlvbi01NTQ4NzY0MdIBMWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL2FtcC9lZHVjYXRpb24tNTU0ODc2NDE?oc=5
2020-12-30 16:59:00Z
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