1/ Trade unions, health experts, education experts, educators, @ChildrensComm @amanda_spielman, local authorities, natl govt all weighing in on #schoolsclosure debate - huge conflict & a total lack of coordination.

And all about children without children.

@bbcpaddy

2/ #childrights & #HumanRights can & sld be a roadmap for #COVID education decision-making, incl #schoolsreopeninguk

Instead we hear the language of rights bandied about by diverse actors but without those standards framing or influencing policy/resource decision-making in any

3/ meaningful way.

There can (& will) of course be differing views as to how children's rights can be secured in #schoolclosures but the instrumentalisation of rights language w/out the proposal of a coherent rights-framed plan & strategy that seeks to advance those rights makes

4/ such language tokenistic at best.

Rights are about actions - not just lip service.

And rights involve careful balancing exercises where we accept rights (of kids and others) can and will be limited at different times. We shouldn't flinch from striking those balances as

5/ required or pretend we're not striking them. Rather it's about making sure they are properly justified in light of the best possible evidence (health, social, etc)

It is so disappointing to hear the #schoolsreopeninguk debate reduced to...

6/ a simplistic presentation of children's interests/rights
vs
the interests/rts of teachers/broader community.

There can & must be recognition of the inter-relationship btw #childrights & those of others - & the factors to be taken into account in #schoolsreopening

7/ There's discussion of this here https://www.right-to-education.org/sites/right-to-education.org/files/resource-attachments/iSAGE_Should%20Schools%20Reopen_Nolan_Adv%20Note_2020.pdf (appended to @IndependentSage May report & still v relevant).

Internationally, the @UN expert on #education report on #education during #COVID http://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=A%2FHRC%2F44%2F39&Language=E&DeviceType=Mobile (see esp para 84) &) and

8/ And the UN #childrights Committee's statement http://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=A%2FHRC%2F44%2F39&Language=E&DeviceType=Mobile (paras 1 & 3) provide a sense of the rights issues (and balances) at play in #schoolclosures and #schoolsreopening context.

9/ CRUCIALLY - & this has been almost entirely absent from political & media discussion so far- CHILDREN & THEIR VIEWS can and must be at the heart of #schoolsreopeninguk decision-making.

This is required by the UK's International law #childrights commitments (Article 12 UNCRC)

10/ There is increasing evidence out there of children's views on the impact of #COVID on their rights, incl with regard to education. See eg work by @CYPCS https://cypcs.org.uk/coronavirus/independent-impact-assessment/
@childcomwales https://www.childcomwales.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/CoronavirusUS_ENG.pdf & the #COVIDunder19 survey #COVID ( https://www.tdh.ch/en/projects/covidunder19)

11/ This information can and sld be factored in to any planning around #schoolsreopeninguk.

12/ And we should see ALL decision-makers - particularly natl
& devolved govt and local authorities should be using #HumanRights impact assessments and other tools to make sure their work in relation to #schoolclosures #schoolsreopeninguk
are rights-compliant and supporting.