UK to close schools and cancel exams amid Coronavirus pandemic

Schools, colleges and nurseries across the UK are to close on Friday for an unspecified period of time, in an effort to stem the high spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the government announced.
Children of ‘‘key workers’’ and vulnerable children will be exempted from the measure.
The decision followed the announcements of blanket school closures by Scotland and Wales, while thousands of schools in England have already taken unilaterally similar measures. Soon after, Northern Ireland announced that all schools will be closed. 
UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that starting from Friday, schools will remain shut for the majority of pupils ‘‘until further notice’’. Schools will continue supervising vulnerable children as well as children of frontline workers – such as staff at the National Health Service and social workers looking after the elderly – he added.
‘‘We need health workers who are also parents to continue to go to work and we need other critical workers with children to keep doing their jobs too,’’ stated Johnson, adding that ‘‘We, therefore, need schools to make provision for the children of these key workers who would otherwise be forced to stay home. And they also need to look after the most vulnerable children.’’
Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary for England, said that eligible children would be provided with meals and vouchers.
Williamson added that GCSE and A-level exams will be canceled this year. ‘‘I can confirm that we will not go ahead with assessments or exams and that we will not be publishing performance tables for this academic year. We will work with the sector to ensure children get the qualifications that they need,’’ he stated.
Both Johnson and Williamson committed to providing more clarity and guidance on school closures and exams’ cancelation shortly.