Petition · past parliament

Parliament should resume normal working before schools are opened.

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

The Government should not rush into opening schools. If anything, the Parliament should be opened as normal to show that covid 19 is under control and government is fully prepared to deal with a second surge in infections before the schools are opened, as our children are not Guinea pigs.
The Government has taken many wrong decisions and was slow in its actions against the covid 19 pandemic. They weren’t prepared and guidelines were issued according to the supply of PPE. The government advisors clearly didn’t have a clue what they were dealing with and there have been many areas of negligence. Hence we have lost trust in the government and we would like them to lead by example, risking themselves before the general public. Hence the schools should remain closed for now.

Why it was rejected

The UK Government or Parliament was already taking the action it asked for.

Since you started your petition the House of Commons has returned, and rules allowing all Members to participate in proceedings virtually have fallen. The House of Commons has agreed that Members who are unable to attend Westminster for medical or public health reasons related to the pandemic can attend proceedings virtually.

We have published the following petitions, which you might like to sign:

Keep schools closed until Covid 19 is no longer a threat: Keep schools closed until Covid 19 is no longer a threat

Halt the reopening of schools until the NEU's 5 tests are met: Halt the reopening of schools until the NEU's 5 tests are met

Delay the reopening of schools to September: Delay the reopening of schools to September

Reopen schools in August with shorter summer holidays for a transition period: Reopen schools in August with shorter summer holidays for a transition period

Keep schools closed in the UK until an effective Cov-19 vaccine is available: Keep schools closed in the UK until an effective Cov-19 vaccine is available.

Delay opening of schools until Test Track and Trace for Covid 19 is working: Delay opening of schools until Test Track and Trace for Covid 19 is working

Shut schools completely to stop putting teachers, TAs and pupils at risk: Shut schools completely to stop putting teachers, TAs and pupils at risk

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

The Government has also created an online service to help you find out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Find out more: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/192/the-governments-response-to-coronavirus/

Timeline

16 May 2020 Petition opened for signatures
5 Jun 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 5 Jun 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.