Teachers are scrambling to find temporary accommodation in libraries, marquees and Portakabins after at least 156 schools in England were identified as having potentially dangerous aerated concrete, and engineers prepared for a weekend checking more schools at risk of sudden collapse.
With an estimated 24 schools already facing temporary closure and the government telling more than 100 to close at least some affected areas, the schools minister, Nick Gibb, said numbers were likely to increase.
One schools estates manager told the Guardian that the number of those affected in some way could eventually rise as high as 1,000, and said the crisis could end up with children being taught in temporary buildings for as long as a decade to come.
Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was used until the 1990s and is now considered “life-expired” and “liable to collapse with little or no notice”, according to the Health and Safety Executive.
Gibb said the government was taking “a very cautious approach” as schools in Surrey, Essex, Kent, Bradford, Leicester, Durham, Brixton, Southend and Cumbria were among those reported to be affected by concerns over the material, which has been involved in several sudden collapses.
Many schools are switching to remote learning despite ministers saying this should be only a last resort. On Thursday, the Department for Education ordered schools to immediately shut any buildings made with RAAC, a shift from previous policy that required such action only in high-risk cases.
