FACE masks will NOT return to the classroom as they cause enormous damage to kids’ learning, Nadhim Zahawi vowed today.
The Education Secretary resisted calls to bring back Covid measures in lessons as the rest of the country unlocks.
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The former vaccine supremo said Britain should continue down the path of freedom after Boris Johnson vowed to rip up all remaining pandemic laws in a fortnight.
Masks were dropped from schools last month but today Mr Zahawi came under pressure from a parent to reinstate them.
But he said on Sky News: “I think the balance… because we know that masks in the classroom does inhibit learning – much harder to communicate, much more difficult for children to learn – and I think now we are at the stage where we’re probably going to be one of the first major economies in the world to transition this virus from pandemic to endemic.
“I think it’s right that we remove masks in the classroom as soon as we could.”
The Sun revealed last month that Mr Zahawi has demanded a final say over any schools wanting to reimpose masks.
He added that if the data continues to “move in the right direction” all restrictions will be removed a month early.
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The PM announced yesterday he will ditch the requirement to self-isolate at the end of February – a full month before it was originally earmarked to lapse on March 24.
Downing Street hailed the super vaccine rollout for letting England throw off the restraints early and get back to normal.
Mr Johnson told MPs he will unveil his full plan to “live with Covid” on Monday February 21.
He said: “Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions, including the legal requirement to self isolate if you test positive.”
