It is possible that children will continue to learn from home until at least after Easter.
The prime minister and education secretary are coming under increasing pressure to reopen schools.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is expected to confirm this week that there will be no return to the classroom after the February half-term break and Health Secretary Matt Hancock has already refused to guarantee that schools would reopen before Easter.
Rob Halfon, the chairman of the Commons Education Committee, said he had written to Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle asking him to summon a minister to Parliament on Monday for an urgent question.
Mr Halfon said on Twitter that he was seeking “clarity” from the Department for Education and “an education route map out of coronavirus to get children learning again at school”.
Speaking to Sky News, he said he wants ministers to set out a “route map” for the reopening of schools.
Mr Halfon added that teachers and support staff should be “made a priority” for vaccines once the elderly and clinically vulnerable have had a jab.
Former cabinet minister Esther McVey said the government should take into account the damage the prolonged closures were doing to the future prospects of a generation of children.
“We genuinely seem to have forgotten about the children,” she told The Daily Telegraph.
“Millions of them are missing out on an education, not developing socially with their friends and aren’t allowed to enrich their lives by playing sports and music any more.
“They are the pandemic’s forgotten victims and we’ve got to start thinking about their prospects and futures as well.”
And Tory MP Tom Tugendhat said: “Closed schools increases inequality, exposes the most vulnerable, and creates gaps that cannot be filled. We must open schools as soon as possible.”
Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey told Sky News the government recognised that the current situation was “challenging for the children, the teachers, for parents”.
She added: “I can assure you that the prime minister is as keen as possible to try and get back to face-to-face learning as quickly as possible.
“We know that schools are safe for children, but it’s about the wider impact and conscious that children could end up acting as a vector.”
-Skynews
