Parents and teachers have called for international pupils to be allowed to self-isolate at their school, rather than in a “quarantine hotel”, according to the BBC.
In a letter to the government on behalf of 500 schools, the Boarding Schools Association said hotel accommodation was unsafe for pupils.
James Davidson said the thought of his daughter quarantining on her return to school from Abu Dhabi made him anxious.
The government said parents should accompany children during quarantine.
Mr. Davidons daughter, Kitty faces having to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days if she returns to Dauntsey’s School in Wiltshire, due to the United Arab Emirates being on the government’s travel ‘red list’.
Mr Davidson said it has been an “anxious” and “unsettling” time.
“This is not something we really want her to go through,” he said.
“Equally, it will be extremely tough on her mentally to be learning remotely whilst all her friends are in school mixing socially.
Seventeen-year-old Saina Sodhi, who attends Millfield School in Somerset, said uncertainty over travel and quarantine measures meant she was unlikely to return from India.
“Parents will be extremely unsettled to have to make their child quarantine at an unsafe location abroad,” she said.
“Having not been to school for a year, going back now is crucial as being away from school for longer will have its impact on my education and performance as a student.
Emma Taylor, headteacher of Dean Close School in Cheltenham, said asking pupils to stay in a hotel was “unsafe” and Westonbirt School headteacher Natasha Dangerfield said the policy risked putting children off coming to the UK.
The Department for Education said children were not exempt from quarantine and asked parents to consider if it was “essential” for their children to “travel unaccompanied into the UK at this time”.
Image source: Wales Online
