Universities could be hit with ‘two-week pre-Christmas lockdown’

The government are reportedly planning to place universities in a two-week pre-Christmas lockdown from 8 to 22 December.

According to the Guardian newspaper the government plans are in their “early stages.”

However, University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady said the government’s proposals are “unworkable and chaotic.”

Grady said in a series of tweets, “Ministers want to place English universities into lockdown from 8-22 Dec, with students remaining on campus & teaching carried out online before returning home.

“This perverse obsession with Christmas is dangerous. Government must focus on the here & now!

“Universities are not boarding schools! Not everyone lives on campus. This ‘plan’ is unworkable and chaotic. These measures are highly undesirable but will also be impossible to deliver or oversee.

“How on earth does the government think they can propose doing this to students?!”

The Department for Education (DfE) said details on students returning return home will be set out “shortly.”

A DfE spokeswoman added, “All students will be able to go home at Christmas if they so choose.

“However, if students are travelling home, we must ensure they do so in a way which minimises the risks of spreading the virus, and the date when universities must stop in-person teaching will be an important part of this.”