2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:23 pm on 2 March 2021.

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Photo of Laura Anne Jones Laura Anne Jones Conservative 2:23, 2 March 2021

Business Minister, children and young people across England are looking forward to returning to the classroom from Monday. Here in Wales, most secondary school pupils are completely in the dark about when they might return, except that it won't be until the summer term. The Welsh Government hasn't given a commitment that return to school will be full time. Minister, in your own Government's alert system, schools are supposed to remain open to all pupils at alert level 4. Most council areas meet your criteria for levels 2 or 3, with incident rates similar to those in late September. With the rapid progress in vaccination and now lateral flow testing for school staff, many families can't understand why schools remain closed for the majority of pupils. Can you tell us when the education Minister or First Minister will be in a position to make a clear, unambiguous statement about reopening schools to all pupils? Thank you.