Government 'failing' on classroom ventilation, union claims

NASUWT says the findings from its latest survey of nearly 2,000 teachers on ventilation from 15 December to 4 January reveals more than half said they did not have access to a CO2 monitor in their classroom.

The shortages come despite pledges from ministers that all schools and colleges would be provided with monitors from the start of the new academic year as part of measures to help prevent the spread of Covid-19, the union said.

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However, it highlighted that even for those settings that had a classroom monitor, nearly one in 10 said it did not work properly.

Common problems included powering and charging the units as well as monitors requiring frequent resetting and erratic readings.

More than a third of schools and colleges said their monitors showed that CO2 levels often or sometimes exceeded 1500ppm in their classroom, a level at which government advice recommends remedial work to improve ventilation, the union said.

Six in 10 of those teachers that said their monitors indicated concerning levels of CO2 in their classroom also reported that their school or college had failed to put in place any actions to improve ventilation.

Even in cases where action had been taken, a quarter said monitors showed that CO2 levels were still consistently high, the union added.

Dr Patrick Roach, NASWUT general secretary, said the government had consistently emphasised the importance of ensuring good ventilation in heavily populated settings but had failed to equip schools properly.

“Efforts to ensure good ventilation in the fight against Covid should not be a lottery for schools and colleges. 

“Schools should be guaranteed the equipment that is needed, rather than being offered the chance to bid for an air purifier,” he said.

The government’s promise to deliver 7,000 air purifiers “barely scratches the surface” of what is needed to ensure every classroom is adequately ventilated, he added.

In response to the national shortage, Labour said it had been urging the government for a year to act on advice from Sage about keeping classrooms well ventilated.

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the government’s “last-minute actions” were not enough to combat the challenge of keeping children learning in school.

“Vaccination, ventilation and testing are key to ensuring children and staff can continue to learn together in school, but ministers are failing short with a lack of tests, only half of eligible children vaccinated and just a fraction of the ventilation systems our schools need,” she said.