Staff should be given personal protective equipment (PPE) and deep cleaning measures are needed, according to the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT).
Dr. Patrick Roach, general secretary of NASUWT, has written to education secretary Gavin Williamson saying a number of concerns need to be "fully addressed" if lessons are to resume during the coronavirus pandemic.
The union has demanded clear guidelines on how social distancing will be enforced, and that teachers are given the same employment rights as other key workers, the Telegraph reports.
NASUWT also wants recognition that school staff is now a "depleted" workforce due to the coronavirus crisis.
"The NASUWT would not expect teachers to be asked to undertake cleaning tasks or to be expected to undertake them to the necessary standards to protect the health of pupils and the workforce," Dr. Roach said.
The Department for Education has previously said that teachers "do not need" PPE and should instead focus on "social distancing, handwashing, hygiene measures and cleaning surfaces" to stop the spread of infection.
It is understood that children could return to school in as soon as three weeks, under new plans to ease the coronavirus lockdown.
Under the proposals, pupils from certain age groups will have lessons during selective days of the week or every other week to ensure they practice social distancing.
Primary schools would resume lessons first and students from Years 10 and 12 who are due to sit their GCSEs and A-levels next year will also return to the classroom.
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However, the Education Secretary has so far refused to confirm a timeline for schools to re-open.
Fears have been raised over how primary school-aged children, in particular, will follow social distancing rules.
Jackie Schneider, who teaches music at a primary school in the borough of Merton in London, said resuming lessons too soon "could undo all the good work" achieved during the lockdown.
The 56-year-old told Mail Online: "When parents wave their kids goodbye every morning and send their kids to me, I want to be able to look the parent in the eye and say, I have done everything I can to keep your child safe."
A spokesperson from the Department for Education said that schools would remain closed, apart from the children of key workers, "until the scientific advice changes".
"We will work in close consultation with the sector to consider how best to reopen schools, nurseries, and colleges when the time is right so that parents, teachers, and children have sufficient notice to plan and prepare", they said.
Source: mirror.co.uk
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