Stock image of a classroom
(Picture: PA Archive)Only 141 schools in London have been given free air cleaning units to help protect children and staff against Covid, new data reveals.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show 12 per cent of all government-funded air purifiers went to London schools, with large variations in the numbers given to each borough.
London Assembly member Onkar Sahota, a GP, said the criteria schools had to meet to apply for the units was too strict, and called for the scheme to be relaunched with looser rules.
The units are being provided by the Department for Education for rooms in schools where carbon dioxide levels are considered too high.
They are designed to reduce the spread of Covid, but could also prevent the transmission of respiratory diseases and reduce exposure to polluted air.
Dr Sahota, Labour’s spokesman for health at the Assembly, said: “Only a tiny proportion of London’s schools received air purifiers from the scheme. We have heard so many stories of schools digging into their own budgets to pay for these units to protect pupils and teachers amid Covid surges.”
The education department defines poor ventilation as rooms with carbon dioxide readings above 1500 parts per million.
The Health and Safety Executive recommends rooms are kept below 800ppm.
Data released by the department shows 1,016 air cleaning units were allocated to 141 education settings in London as of March 4, from a total of 8,000 nationwide.
In Wandsworth just two schools were given a total of three units. In Southwark two schools got 24 units. Lambeth got the highest number, with 130 being given to 10 schools.
Dr Sahota said: “The reason why there is so much variation between the allocations of these units between boroughs could be because the Government’s criteria was strict and relied upon schools providing data from carbon dioxide monitors.”
The education department said units “are being provided to all education settings for all rooms where they are required and an application was made.”
Latest data shows 202,000 state school pupils off because of Covid, triple the number two weeks previously.
