The Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA) has called for urgent changes to be made to new quarantine rules for international children coming to UK boarding schools.
In an open letter to the Prime Minister, First Minister of Scotland, First Minister of Wales and the four UK Chief Medical Officers, the BSA has expressed major concerns that ‘current ‘red list’ hotel quarantine arrangements in UK pose a significant safeguarding risk to the children in our care’. Instead, it is strongly urging that minors be allowed ‘to quarantine in their boarding accommodation, fully and safely operated by their schools, without the risk of abuse’.
The letter is supported and co-signed by the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS), the Welsh Council for Independent Schools (WISC), the Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS), the Independent Schools’ Bursars Association (ISBA), the Society of Heads (SoH), the Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools (AGBIS), the Girls’ Schools Association (GSA) and the Independent Schools Association (ISA).
Despite the BSA receiving assurances from the Home Office via DfE colleagues on January 25, 2021, the new quarantine guidance says:
If you have been in or through any of the countries listed below in the previous 10 days, you will be refused entry to the UK.
If you are a British or Irish National, or you have residence rights in the UK, you will be able to enter. You must quarantine in a government approved hotel for 10 days. You cannot use the Test to Release scheme.
The BSA is working with government departments to see if visa holders can be added to ‘red list’ countries permitted to enter the UK (rather than just those with a right to reside) and challenging the current policy of hotel quarantine for minors on safeguarding grounds. It has also called on member schools to send a version of its letter to their local MP/MSP/MS to highlight the sector’s concerns.
To view a full copy of the letter, please click here.
Categories: Sector News Uncategorised
