OUR children are owed a significant debt by this country — a debt that demands urgent action to address the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing educational neglect.

Rewriting history on school closures

As former joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) alongside Dr Mary Bousted, I gave evidence to the Covid inquiry on behalf of the TUC on October 6 2025.

My testimony countered attempts to rewrite the history of Covid-related school closures. While closures were undeniably damaging and, due to the Boris Johnson government’s incompetence, longer than necessary, they were essential at certain points to curb virus transmission.

This was critical to prevent overwhelming NHS emergency beds, which could have led to countless deaths from Covid-19 and other conditions.

Outside the inquiry, there is also a concerted effort to vilify education unions, particularly the NEU, with claims that we prioritised teacher and staff safety over children’s needs.

Former education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson, for instance, derisively labelled the NEU the “No Education Union” to deflect from his own failures in planning and following scientific advice.

From some of the questioning I faced on October 6 — about particular letters NEU reps at particular schools, or about concerns that unions raised about vaccination for staff in special schools — it seems like the inquiry may also veer in that direction.

These accusations are baseless. The NEU consistently prioritised children’s welfare by advocating for science-led policies that would have minimised closures and protected entire communities.

The NEU’s role during the pandemic

Education unions, including the NEU, played a vital role during the pandemic. We challenged government decisions when necessary to keep communities safe:

• In March 2020, we called for earlier school closures, which could have reduced cases and deaths.
• In June 2020, we advocated for a two-week delay in school reopenings to allow case numbers to drop further and for Test, Track and Isolate systems to be established.
• In January 2021, we successfully opposed the reckless reopening of schools amid high transmission rates.

Had the government followed the science, as we urged, lower transmission rates could have enabled earlier school reopenings, as seen in countries like Denmark. Contrary to claims, the NEU supported reopenings when conditions were safer, such as in September 2020 and March 2021. However, government failures undermined these efforts.

Government failures in reopening schools

In September 2020, the absence of an effective Test, Track and Isolate system led to chaos. Headteachers reported difficulties accessing tests, and Dido Harding, head of the testing programme, admitted being unprepared for the demand when schools fully reopened. Low case numbers that month could have been maintained with proper systems, but instead, policies like “Eat Out to Help Out” fuelled a surge in infections.

In March 2021, reopening schools was reasonable given vaccination progress and low case numbers. However, the government failed to implement critical measures like improved ventilation, regular asymptomatic testing and medical-grade mask mandates.

The NEU stepped in, producing safety checklists and supporting representatives to enforce mitigations, often against government resistance. These measures reduced transmission, but stronger government support could have further minimised student and staff absences and the devastating impact of long Covid on thousands of children and educators.

The cost to children and the recovery failure

While school closures were necessary to prevent tens of thousands of deaths, they came at a high cost to children, who faced significant disruptions despite being less vulnerable to severe Covid outcomes. These closures were prolonged by government mismanagement and lack of foresight.

Post-pandemic, the government has failed to support children’s recovery. In February 2021, Johnson appointed Sir Kevan Collins as education recovery tsar — a rare positive move. Collins proposed a comprehensive £15 billion recovery plan, including extended school hours and high-quality activities.

However, the government offered a paltry £1.4bn, prompting Collins’s resignation. This failure to invest in children’s recovery compounds the harm caused by prolonged closures.

A call for action

Former children’s commissioner Anne Longfield rightly stated that this generation deserves an apology. More than that, they are owed a debt that must be repaid through immediate and bold action:

• Invest in education recovery: Fund a robust recovery programme to address learning loss and support student wellbeing.
• Tackle child poverty: Abolish the two-child benefit cap, introduce universal free school meals, and reduce inequality to ensure no child is left behind.
• Reduce class sizes: With falling primary pupil numbers, invest in smaller classes rather than closing schools.
• Upgrade school infrastructure: Launch a major investment in school buildings, prioritising energy efficiency, ventilation, and air filtration to support net-zero goals and health.