England vs Mexico: School can wait, let children stay up for World Cup match, Tuchel says – but minister rejects plea

A minister has rejected England manager Thomas Tuchel’s request for parents to “write an excuse” for the school to allow children to watch England’s match against Mexico in the early hours of Monday.

England’s win over the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday confirmed a clash with the home team in Mexico City, kicking off at 1am BST.

In the past, it was common for schools and employers to allow England matches in the final stages of major tournaments to be shown when they clashed with working hours; But Monday’s kickoff time is early in the morning, which presents a unique obstacle.

Shortly after the match, Tuchel said: “Make an excuse for school and let them watch football. There are many schools to go to but the World Cup is every four years. Let them watch.”

“It’s going to be a huge match in four days and we need everyone’s support, especially the kids.”

Some schools have already taken action. Castle Hill Primary School in Basingstoke is allowing parents to bring their children to school at 9.30am, an hour after the normal start time of 8.35am. “We introduced this so that families can enjoy the World Cup and children can get enough sleep to enjoy learning,” he said on the school’s notice board for parents.

But skills minister Baroness Jacqui Smith disagreed with Tuchel’s comments, suggesting young people could be missing out on important learning opportunities by writing excuses to schools.

Speaking to LBC’s Nick Ferrari on Breakfast on Thursday, he said: “I don’t want to be a spoilsport here, but I’ll tell you what the biggest fun is – young people who don’t have the knowledge to go on to do what they need to do later in life.

“I understand perfectly well that if people, including young people, want to watch the match, I will do so.

“I’ll take a little nap at the disco in the afternoon and celebrate our victory looking fresh as a daisy when I go to work the next morning.”

Mr Smith’s comments were backed by No 10 at lunchtime on Thursday, with a spokesman saying children “should be at school on Monday”. They said: “Of course parents can make their own decisions and I think the Skills Minister put it very well when he said he was going to have a nap at the disco. “We want everyone to enjoy the game but children must be at school on Monday.

“Parents can make their own decisions, but we want everyone, including the children, to enjoy the game. But they must come to school on Monday.”

But National Education Union General Secretary Daniel Kebede suggested a more flexible start to Monday morning would help.

He said: “I think it would be very good if the Secretary of State recognized that this is an important event in our calendar and allowed a flexible start on Monday morning.

“These are very important events on our calendar and it would be nice if as many young people as possible could do this.”

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “School leaders are in the best position to decide on funding to recognize the timing of the England-Mexico match and the possibility that young people who are enthusiastic England fans may want to stay up to watch the game.

“What we hope is that the Department for Education recognizes that it needs to give schools flexibility in how they respond to this unique situation and does not score an own goal by rigidly insisting that this should be business as usual.”

For employers, No 10 said allowing employees to work from home on Monday was a matter for them.

HR experts Acas said company bosses may want to accommodate those watching England’s game on Monday. Senior consultant Louise Rudd said: “Employers could be a bit more flexible and allow staff to start slightly later on Monday or work from home if possible.

“It is also possible that some staff have no interest in football and are happy to offer shift swaps to those who are. The important thing for them is to ensure that flexibility is offered fairly and consistently and that any changes to employees’ working hours are approved in advance.”