Anita Sawhney, a former science teacher at Midpoint Centre in Wolverhampton, was on the brink of being banned from teaching. Only learn that she’d continued working while symptomatic at the peak of the pandemic. The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) carried out their investigation into her conduct and ruled there should be no ban. Instead, they felt that sharing the release of their findings with the media was enough of a reaction.
The complainants’ investigation revealed one important fact. Sawhney mentioned that she and her husband had to fly out from Heathrow to Delhi on the same day they informed the school about her high temperature. She had a negative Covid test only two days prior. She decided not to notify her school, which led them to continue thinking that she was in self-isolation. Her conduct panel’s recommendation to dismiss her was based on the fact that her conduct was egregiously below the level of professionalism required of all educators.
“This could have led to wider issues such as the school having to close down.” – A witness
The panel found that Sawhney had violated NHS and school policies in order to allow her trip to India. They did advise against a teaching ban, calling it excessive punishment. Sarah Buxcey, deputy director for the education department, accepted the recommendation on behalf of education secretary Miguel Cardona. This decision only served to release the panel’s findings as the sole disciplinary action taken.
Sawhney had been working at the school since 2017 and expressed regret over her behavior. A character reference during the investigation described her as someone “always putting the welfare of the students and colleagues first,” despite her breach of protocol in this instance.
