Nursery World - Coronavirus: Teaching assistants worried about inadequate ventilation in schools

A teaching union is calling for the Government to fund CO2 monitors in schools following concerns from members about the level of ventilation in classrooms to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

The survey found that school support staff are concerned about returning to work in September

A survey by the GMB union of 800 school support staff in London and the South East, revealed that 81 per cent would feel safer if CO2 monitors were used in schools.

Evidence suggests there is a strong link between carbon dioxide levels in buildings and the airborne spread of coronavirus. Carbon dioxide is generated by the exhaled air of people indoors. The exhalation also contains tiny liquid droplets, which could contain Coronavirus if present in someone’s lungs.

The survey also revealed that just 12 per cent of respondents feel confident about the next academic year and returning to school in September.

One teaching assistant said, ‘We TA’s [teaching assistants] were left to die or survive and nobody seems to care! I worked feeling petrified, angry and freezing cold in the winter months in a classroom where the temperature was around 10C. I’m extremely exhausted and experiencing health issues as a result of this nightmare. I’m dreading September.'

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