Across the UK, anticipation is rising for the definite end of the Covid lockdowns. At the start of the week schools all over England re-opened their gates for the first time in a long while. This can only be good news for the nation as a whole, for families and the education of our future generations.
Whilst it may have been pleasant for many to be able to take a more active role in their children’s education and their daily activities, it is also undeniable that it will also be a great relief to be able to dedicate less time to corralling offspring into actually buckling down and doing schoolwork.
Moreover, it is patently obvious for all parents that “remote learning” and virtual classrooms are no substitute for proper in-person teaching. Even the world’s greatest teacher cannot be as effective on the other end of an internet connection as when they are in a classroom. Regrettably, our children will have received a worse education than they would have done in normal times.
Schools reopening is merely the first step along the government’s publicised roadmap to the end of lockdown. This is undeniably good news and coincided well with the welcome news that daily deaths from Covid had once again fallen below 100 people.
Clearly, the ongoing lockdown is having an impact and has limited the spread of the virus and controlled any further outbreaks – including the more dangerous variants that we have been warned about.
Of course, as we steadily reopen the nation, there is the obvious risk that Covid-19 cases will once again surge up. We all know that this could well have an effect. Everyone wants to return to normality, but the Government is willing and ready to slam the brakes on the path to freedom. Anyone who believes otherwise has not been paying attention. There are the constant Covid briefings where ministers and SAGE members say that the dates for the loosening of the rules can and will be changed. Indeed, even when the roadmap was finally announced Boris Johnson also was saying that any scheduled end to lockdown was subject to change.
The Government is only starting along this path due to the successful vaccine rollout that we have managed to achieve as a nation. We must continue to pull together and abide by the rules as it will be only for a short time longer – the worst of the pandemic is now firmly behind us.
If we stick to the rules and take the vaccine when it is offered to us, we will be opening up far sooner than we otherwise would. By preserving the community spirit of us all being in the same lockdown situation we will be able to open up together. We will be able to return to the pubs and support our local businesses. Our communities will recover and even perhaps be stronger than before as we all share in the joy of being free from the spectre of Covid.