TEACHERS have slammed the government for offering “nothing” by way of reassurance that schools will be safe for pupils or staff if they open in June as ministers demand.

The National Education Union (NEU) and teachers’ union NASUWT met with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, the Chief Medical Officer and other experts to hear the government’s reasons in favour of reopening schools in England from June 1.

Sending children back to school will be encouraged but voluntary, the government said.

The NEU had published five demands for ministers to meet before children should be encouraged to go back to school, urging caution over any wider reopening before there is clear scientific evidence to support doing so.

Ahead of the meeting with the government and its advisers, NEU joint general secretary Kevin Courtney said the unions wanted to hear “what the science is” and “how much children transmit to one another and to adults.”

NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach said the meeting “raised more questions than answers” over the “weak” evidence for reopening schools.

He added: “No evidence was provided at the meeting and there was no clarity about when it will be provided by SAGE.

“No confirmation was provided that teachers are at low risk of catching the virus following the wider opening of schools.

“No clear information was provided on what modelling has been undertaken in relation to potential transmission rates when schools open more widely.

“Nothing in the meeting provided reassurance for the deeply worried and anxious school workforce.”

Medics are standing in solidarity with education unions in their demands for schools not to reopen until it is safe to do so.

The British Medical Association (BMA) offered its “full support” to school staff.

A letter from BMA council chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul, addressed to NEU joint secretary Kevin Courtney, states that the BMA’s Public Health Medicine Committee (PHMC) found the “relatively small amount of research” available on reopening schools “conflicting.”

Research from Germany looked at viral loads in children and suggests that they are “just as likely to be infected as adults, and may be just as infectious,” he added.

Mr Nagpaul also recommended that schools should not be reopened until coronavirus case numbers are “much lower.”

Some local authorities, including Liverpool and Brighton, have said they will not reopen schools to the government’s timetable as they do not believe it is safe.

Writing in the Daily Mail before the meeting, Mr Williamson said if scientific advice said a “limited number” of children could be sent back to school, it was his duty to allow this to happen.

In an attempt to assure teachers and parents Mr Williamson said the first phase of a “controlled and careful” return to school would involve a range of protective measures.

These would include keeping class sizes small, making sure children stayed within small groups, observing strict hygiene measures and staggering breaks to reduce crowding.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner criticised the Daily Mail’s front-page attack on teachers, which described unions as “militants.”

She said: “Teachers are already heroes, nobody needs the Daily Mail peddling their divisive anti trade union rhetoric at such a sensitive time.

“It’s not ‘militant’ to demand safety measures are in place for children and staff alike, it’s not ‘militant’ to protect all children and staff in school.”

Dave Ward, general secretary of Communication Workers Union, said the headline was “an absolute disgrace” and Mr Courtney ridiculed the idea that teachers and their unions were at loggerheads, pointing out that the NEU had recruited 7,500 new members in just three days.