UK Drops Plan to Get All Young Children in School by Summer

UK Drops Plan to Get All Young Children in School by Summer
Teacher Muriel Thompson carries a desk into the temporary classroom within the school hall, ahead of the return of more students from Reception and Year 6 of Muswell Hill Primary School in London on June 3, 2020. Leon Neal/Getty Images
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LONDON—The British government on June 9 ditched plans to have all primary school children in England return to the classroom before the summer vacation after schools voiced worries about their ability to meet CCP virus social distancing requirements.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson admitted that the goal for approximately 5 million primary school children from ages 4 to 11 wasn’t possible, given constraints related to classroom sizes, the need for social distancing, and inadequate numbers of teachers.