Government's 'open window' policy in schools unworkable in winter, teachers say
There are calls for better ventilation in classrooms to reduce risk of Covid-19 transmissions
Teachers are warning the Government that keeping windows open in school to improve ventilation creates unworkable conditions in winter.
500 education staff including headteachers, teachers and teaching assistants, as well as an additional 1,000 parents of children aged under 16, were all surveyed by Censuswide.
They were asked for their thoughts on the Government's 'open window' policy, which states that classrooms should have open windows to ventilate the air and reduce Covid transmissions.
But just a few days into the start of the new term, three-quarters (74%) of education staff say they're let down by the Government for not providing a better solution.
A fifth of those polled (21%) said the Government's 'open window' policy was impractical, while a quarter (25%) argued that they created more problems than they solved.
The research, commissioned by PHS - an organisation leading a study into pollution and air quality in schools - also revealed that 21% of teachers were not familiar with the policy.
An impossible task
In some cases, the Government's policy couldn't be implemented at all, with over a quarter of survey respondents working in classrooms where windows cannot physically be opened.
90% of education staff even said there are between one and ten rooms in their school with windows that couldn't be opened.
In classrooms where they can be opened, a quarter (24%) say the policy causes more viruses due to students and teachers being cold, which won't help mounting absences - as 50% of school leaders say they have more staff off that ever before.
70% of staff subsequently voiced concerns about the risk of Covid infection and a quarter say regulating Covid in class during winter will be difficult.
More than half of educators therefore predicted that, if better means of ventilation aren't put in place, there will be a return to former teaching measures.
A start, but not enough
Professor Paul Linden, an expert on the role of ventilation in the airborne transmission of Covid-19 said: “We know that poor ventilation increases the risk of infection.
“Covid is spread through airborne particles that can be filtered from the air and removed by introducing more fresh air.
“Opening windows is just the first step, and we have to ask ourselves how practical this is, and how much responsibility we can put on teachers.
“We can’t expect teachers to be ventilation experts, so the best answer has to be a combination of solutions that suits each individual classroom”.