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Coronavirus: Chief medical officer wanted August school opening
Jun 4, 2020
Wales chief medical officer has said he would have preferred schools re-open in August but "I understand this was not attractive to the unions".
Dr Frank Atherton called re-opening schools on 29 June "for a short period" a "second-best option".
He said he would have preferred to open schools in late August "to give us a little bit more time".
Teaching unions criticised the June opening plans when they were announced on Wednesday, saying it was too soon.
How will schools in Wales re-open?
Revealing the plans , Education Minister Kirsty Williams said the summer term had been extended by one week to 27 July, and the autumn half-term holiday would be stretched to two weeks.
Speaking at the Welsh Government's daily coronavirus news briefing on Thursday, Dr Atherton said: "When I was discussing this with the education minister, my preferred option would have been to re-open the schools perhaps towards the end of summer in August, to give us a little bit more time, but I understand that was not attractive to the unions.
"So we've got a second-best option, which is we're going to re-open the schools towards the end of June for a short period of time with very different arrangements so that can be done safely".
"I think we can do that safely and we do need to monitor and track it".
On Wednesday, David Evans from NEU Wales, said the June plans were "too much, too soon".
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