The private nursery mess
Miranda Hall writes for Tribune
10 January 2021
The government has decided to keep nurseries open – despite scientific advice – to prevent many private outlets from closing. There is an alternative: publicly-funded childcare and early childhood education, writes Miranda Hall in Tribune:
“Leading SAGE scientists have said that there is no scientific rationale for keeping early-years settings open while schools are closed. Unions, MPs and sector bodies are demanding that ministers produce clear evidence for the decision.The vaccine minister has claimed that there is “very little risk” in keeping nurseries open but the government’s own statistics show that in the week before Christmas there were new Covid cases in 829 childcare settings in just a week, with cases doubling weekly.”