Teachers' union calls for delayed and staggered opening of schools after Christmas break
The ASTI warns it would be an 'unacceptable risk' to send all kids back to classrooms on Thursday
Schoolkids in a classroom.
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One of the country's largest teachers' unions has called on the Government to delay the re-opening of schools as the Omicron variant continues to cause high daily case rates.
The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland has claimed there is an "unacceptable risk" in opening schools as planned on Thursday - especially if additional safety measures are not being put in place.
And the ASTI says it will urge Public Health officials and representatives from the Department of Education to agree on a 'delayed and staggered' approach to re-opening when they meet them today.
Education Minister Norma Foley and her officials will meet with with the unions to discuss re-opening plans but Government Ministers including Eamonn Ryan have indicated that a full re-opening will go ahead as planned on Thursday.
The INTO - representing teachers in national schools - has this morning said there are a number of issues union leaders will raise with the Minister this afternoon.
"We expect to be briefed this afternoon on the review of public health measures in schools, which INTO requested public health undertake," said the union.
"In particular we want to see quicker response times and interventions from public health when multiple cases arise in primary schools."
The ASTI is also calling for updated risk assessments to be finalised before schools reopen later this week.
"The ASTI is deeply concerned that the Minister for Education may reopen schools without putting in place additional measures necessary to safeguard the health and safety of students and school staff," said an ASTI statement.
"This would constitute an unacceptable risk in the context of the Omicron wave," it said.
"There is uncertainty regarding the impact in schools of this significantly more transmissible variant."
ASTI President Eamon Dennehy said it was clear that the priority for the Department of Education: "must be that students and school staff can learn and work in an environment where there are appropriate safety measures in place to protect all concerned".
The Association will be asking Minister for Education Norma Foley to consider making antigen tests available for all parents and children prior to going back to schools to back up the existing systems.
And the union is urging the Minister to speed up the installation of HEPA filtration units.
The ASTI says it "beggars belief that almost two years into this pandemic this basic facility is not in place where necessary".
The concerns being raised by the union follow on from the Government's Special Rapporteur on Child Protection's warning that school closures during the pandemic have had a significant impact on children beyond just their learning.
On RTÉ's News at One, Professor Conor O'Mahony said during previous lockdowns, the country had "pretty long school closures by international standards".
"There were children in Ireland who missed between 90 and 110 school days between the two major lockdowns.
"What we learned during that time, and what we learned from the evidence internationally is that lengthy school closures like that don't just impact on the child's right to education."
"The impact on children is not just missing a few weeks of classes and having to catch up on that later on. There are multiple impacts on children that we've seen documented in Ireland and internationally of school closures, including on their mental health, including on their social skills, their general development, and their recreational opportunities."
Prof O'Mahony warned that in the worst cases, children at risk had been forced to spend lengthy times in unsafe home environments and exposed to abuse, neglect or domestic violence.
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