Harris: Colleges on track to resume in-person learning in September

Colleges are set to resume in-person learning, on-campus, on the return of the academic year after the summer.

Colleges are still on track to resume in-person learning on-campus this September, according to the Minister for Further and Higher Education.

Simon Harris was speaking at the launch of a new online learning hub to promote resources on sexual consent for students, which took place at NUI Galway.

Monday also saw a socially distanced protest take place in Dublin as in-person learning begins to resume at English language schools amidst the ongoing surge in Covid-19 cases.

Students on certain visas are being forced to attend class if their school reopens or risk being reported to immigration. 

That's according to the English Language Students’ Union of Ireland (ELSU), which believes most students and teachers wish to remain online until everyone has had a chance to be vaccinated.

When asked if he remains confident third-level institutions will resume in-person learning and teaching as planned on the course we are on now, Mr. Harris said he is. “What we've published is effectively a framework with a minimum and a maximum level of on-site attendance,” he said.

“What we've tried to do was be very transparent with students and be very transparent with staff. We've basically said ‘in a worst-case scenario, here's what you can expect to happen on-site, and in a slightly better scenario, here's what you can expect.” 

The difference is largely around large-scale lectures, he added. An update will go to Cabinet on Wednesday regarding financial assistance to higher education institutions, he said.

The Progressive College Network (PCN), which represents 12 English Language Teaching organisations, the ELSU and Unite have all raised concerns around the “reckless, last-minute” reopening of English language schools this week.

Students on Stamp Two visas whose school decided to reopen will be forced to attend class against their will, according to Carla Vaz, ELSU chairperson.

“Because if a student doesn’t attend, either because they are afraid or if they are feeling sick, they are being explicitly threatened with being reported to Immigration for non-attendance.” 

Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris outlined the return of colleges to in-person classes in colleges

When asked on Monday if it was fair to demand English language students to return, Simon Harris said: “I don't think anyone's demanding anything. 

“The government recognizes that there are many people who came to our country, many, many, many months ago, some well over a year ago, to learn English.  They haven’t been able to do so because of Covid-19. They have been left almost stranded in terms of not being able to access what they thought they had signed up for.”  

From a public health point of view, the numbers involved are small, he added. “I think an average class size of seven people can go back to in-person teaching.” 

There is a duty of care to English language students, and new students are not allowed to register, he added. “This is simply about the people here in our country, who came to Ireland to learn English, to make sure they can access some level of service. It's being done in a very careful, very cautious way and in line with public health advice.”