Teachers ‘ready to tackle swine flu’
Concerns had been expressed in the past week about the safety of large numbers of children returning to school and the high risk of the disease being spread, as well as about the prospect of schools needing to close if there were high absenteeism rates among teachers.
But following meetings with Department of Education officials, two teacher unions expressed the need for a proportionate and informed response to the illness.
“Parents can have every confidence that every precaution will be taken to minimise the spread of the virus and that schools will be safe places for their children to return to class next week,” said Irish National Teachers’ Organisation president Máire Ní Chuinneagáin.
She said teachers would play their part in highlighting the importance of proper hygiene routines to children and she urged parents to do the same.
The union was assured about a number of issues on which it was seeking clarification, including the fact that schools do not need running hot water for the kind of hand-washing needed to help prevent the spread of swine flu.
Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) general secretary John White said schools and teachers will operate on the expert advice from local public health doctors and endeavour to continue with their normal routines.
“The ASTI’s advice to schools is that teachers are not medical experts and should thus be guided by the medical advice, which is that swine flu is a mild to moderate illness and that there should not be a disproportionate response,” Mr White said.
“Unless the local HSE advice is to close as a precautionary measure, the school or college should remain open. With regard to high levels of staff absenteeism, each school must assess the viability of remaining open,” he said.
An online survey earlier this week found that 85% of parents planned to send their children back to school as normal, but 7% said they would not because they were concerned about the spread of swine flu.
Following advice from the HSE, it is understood that the Department of Education also told school management bodies and unions yesterday that any students or teachers with underlying health issues or who are pregnant, should seek advice from their own doctor about attending school.
A department spokesperson said last night that it had agreed with the unions and management bodies that they would all work together to ensure schools continue to have full information on flu pandemic issues.
* Swine flu advice is available from www.hpsc.ie and www.swineflu.ie
