A senior Tory has warned that the country is "moving sadly towards de facto school closures", as he urged the Government to create an "army" of volunteers and public awareness campaign for the education sector.

Asking an urgent question in the Commons Robert Halfon, the chairman of the education committee, said: "The four horsemen of the education apocalypse have been galloping towards our young people in the form of a widening attainment gap, an epidemic of mental health problems, a rise in safeguarding hazards and a loss of life chances."

The Harlow MP noted that efforts were being made to protect the NHS, and called for similar attention to be paid to education.

He said: "There's a nationwide campaign for an army of NHS volunteers but not for education. Why is a similar army of retired teachers or Ofsted inspectors not being recruited to support schools struggling to cope with staffing requirements?

"Can we not have the same vision, the same passion, the same resource provision for the education service as we do for the National Health Service?"

Read more here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/12/15/boris-johnson-news-tory-rebellion-labour-covid-pass-shropshire/

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