FG hits out at school closures

A Fine Gael representative has today severely criticised the announcement by Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe to impose a blanket closure order on all schools until next Thursday.

Seanad education spokesperson Senator Fidelma Healy Eames said that local school management-are the people best-placed to decide whether or not schools can be opened.

She also called on Minister Gormley’s Emergency Response Committee to use Defence Forces transport resources, where necessary, to bring children to school where routes are unsafe.

"With Junior and Leaving Certificate students three to four weeks away from sitting critical mock exams, a blanket instruction to close all schools is counter-productive," she said.

"Local decision-making by boards of management had been working successfully and should have been allowed to continue. Only schools that need to close for weather-related and health and safety reasons should close.

"I called a number of schools in the Oranmore (Galway) area yesterday and all reported that they were open and teaching as normal.

"The exam students had even requested the school to open for four days, including Saturday last, to enable them to study for their impending mock examinations."

In light of the lack of state education available recently, the launch of a new private online grind service has been pushed forward to next week.

Reachateacher.ie is set to offer Irish second level students one-to-one grinds with a qualified tutor in real time in the comfort of their own home.