Boris Johnson at the Covid Inquiry giving evidence on the government's handling of school closures and lockdown rules. Image credit: AP News
During his speech at the Covid Inquiry on Tuesday, the former PM explained children had paid a “huge price” to protect others. He criticized the government’s grading system for exams and school closures as a “nightmare idea” he had been desperately trying to avoid.
“I believe we did go too far,” Johnson said. “It seemed like children, who were not very vulnerable to Covid, were the ones making the greatest sacrifices.”
Johnson Criticizes School Closures
Johnson said he “personally dreaded” closing schools during the pandemic. He believed the measure would most impact on the most vulnerable students.
It was obvious to me that school closures would put those least well able to cope out of luck, the less well-off children,” he told the inquiry.
He insisted that school closure planning began in February 2020 and that he had taken it for granted that the Department for Education (DfE) would have prepared contingency plans. Senior officials in the DfE told the inquiry that there were no such plans until a short time before the closures were made on 18 March.
Johnson admitted he was “surprised” the DfE was not prepared earlier.
Johnson also made comments about the much-criticized exam results algorithm used in 2020. The algorithm lowered around 40% of teacher-graded grades and disproportionately affected state school students.
“The algorithm just did not work,” Johnson said. “It disappointed many children. It was a disaster.”
He did express his rage then, saying that he was in a “homicidal mood” and considered sacking top education officials over the fiasco.
Lockdown Rules “Too Complex”
The ex-Prime Minister continued that the rules on lockdown became too complex, especially for children.
“The rule of six and other restrictions were far too complicated. Maybe we might have omitted children,” he admitted.
Johnson also commented on the postponed January 2021 school closures. Teachers had worked during Christmas to ready schools for mass testing, only for schools to shut several hours after reopening.
“That was a nadir. I could see vaccines coming, but not fast enough to prevent further disruption,” he said.
Johnson, who attended the inquiry for the first time, said he hoped that future governments would learn from the mistakes.
We didn’t know everything back then. But in retrospect, I wish we had discovered another solution for kids.
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