THE youngest pupils could begin returning to primary schools in Wales after the February half-term if rates of coronavirus continue to fall, first minister Mark Drakeford said today.

He said pupils had endured "a torrid time" during the pandemic – but a "combination of factors" had to be considered before they could return to school.

When asked why this planned February return date was earlier than in England and Northern Ireland, Mr Drakeford told BBC Breakfast: “Because the context is different. Today we have 175 people in Wales for every 100,000 contracting coronavirus.

“In England a couple of days ago the average was 350, and our 170 figure is falling every day, so you can see the context is very different.

“We want to take advantage of that. Our children and young people have had a torrid time over the last 12 months, they are missing out on education every week.”

But the Welsh branch of the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) said there were currently "too many unknowns" to commit to a February return date.

“The Welsh Government will also have to put effort into reassuring families that it is safe to send their children back to school – there is a confidence test the government must pass to make the return a success," NAHT Cymru director Laura Doel said.

“It is also important that the teaching workforce is prioritised for vaccinations. This would give confidence as well as providing a better chance that once lockdown measures are lifted, children’s education is less likely to continue to be disrupted by staff absence and illness.”

Mr Drakeford said a “combination of factors” would be considered before children could begin returning to schools in Wales.

He told BBC Breakfast this would include the incidence rate of cases per 100,000 people and the test positivity rate, which is also falling in Wales.

“We will also be looking carefully at the number of people in our hospitals and in critical care,” Mr Drakeford said.

“We’ll then take a judgment in the round. The key thing is the trend – those numbers need to continue to fall.

“They’ve been falling now in Wales for six weeks, we need another three weeks, we need to see the momentum in that direction, then we’ll take a judgment based not just on a single figure but on a basket of indicators across the system.

“If it’s safe to do so, we all want our children, more of them, back in the classroom.

“That’s what they need, that’s what they deserve, and our cabinet is determined that that will be the top priority for us here in Wales.”