Coronavirus: Phased return of Manx schools to start on 22 June

A "phased return" of children to the Isle of Man's schools will begin on 22 June, the education minister has said.

Years 2, 6, 10 and 12 would go back first and all may return "by the end of the academic year", Alex Allinson said.

The minister previously announced schools would reopen on 15 June with the children of key workers returning to their regular schools from 17 June.

Bill Shimmins MHK told the House of Keys there could be no delays as children were "falling behind".

Schools have been closed to most pupils since 24 March, though the children of key workers and vulnerable pupils have been allowed to attend.

There have been no new cases of coronavirus on the island since 20 May and only one active case remains in the community.

Mr Shimmins told the House of Keys that parents "want details, they don't want delays", adding: "Our children are falling behind."

Acknowledging there was frustration over the issue, Dr Allinson said the "safety of pupils and the staff" was the focus of the Department of Education, Sport and Culture.

"We won't actually understand what children have lost... in terms of their education, if anything, until we're able to get them back to schools," he said.

He added that "as much as possible" would be done to make sure that the education of pupils was "not a victim of the current pandemic".