Marie van der Zyl: ‘Government must communicate plans with school leaders on safe reopening’

Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl has responded to Government plans to keep schools closed to most pupils until at least 8 March.

Marie said: “Education is one of our Jewish community’s highest values. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement that the return to school will be delayed until March at the earliest, our thoughts turn to those young people whose education has been disrupted, as well as the teachers, school staff and parents who have been working so hard to overcome these challenges in schools in both the Jewish and wider community. We hope that the government will use this time to develop and communicate plans with school leaders on a safe reopening, and we reiterate our call for teachers and school staff to be prioritised in the next round of the vaccine rollout to ensure their working environments are safe.”