Covid: Parents urged to consent to pupils' tests

Parents are being urged to return consent forms to allow their children to be tested for coronavirus, amid concerns from schools.

Secondary pupils in England are being asked to take a rapid lateral flow test twice a week to track the virus.

Pupils are due to have three initial tests at school or college before moving to home testing.

But officials in Leicester said in some city schools as few as 25% of parents had filled out the required paperwork.

Martin Samuels, Leicester City Council's strategic director of education and social care, said the picture across the city's 38 schools and colleges was "varied".

"Anecdotally, we are hearing the return rate goes from about a quarter to three quarters," he said.

"But that is at the moment and a number of children may turn up with forms on Monday, so hopefully numbers will go up."

He acknowledged some families feared the financial impact of having to self isolate if their child tested positive, but he said there was support available.

Gulbanu Kader, principal of Rushey Mead School which has about 1,800 pupils, said there were a number of issues behind the slow take-up.

"I think it comes from misinformation from social media and some of the conspiracy theories about the pandemic," she said.

"There is also concern about income."

Rushey Mead reported it had 67% of forms back, while the other secondary schools in the Mead Educational Trust - Castle Mead and Orchard Mead - said they had 75% and 65% respectively.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "We encourage everyone to consent to testing, following in the footsteps of the staff and students who have already taken millions of tests over the past weeks."

There is no testing planned for primary school pupils.

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