Aoife Moore: Schools are the Government's holy grail but panic fills the void

By the last week in November, schools were the third most likely place to record Covid-19 clusters.

It became clear early on, as this government shuffled from shambles to scandal, the schools would be its holy grail.

"We got the schools open," became the standard response from every minister who was questioned on the Covid-19 response.

So passionate was their self-congratulation, the schools being open was regarded as the ultimate achievement and not having the schools open would've been the end of the world.

At one point, National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) director Clive Byrne said he thought the Government would "move hell and high water to keep schools open if it is safe to do so."

And here we are, at 6,000 cases a day, Intensive Care Units bursting at the seams and schools shut for a week, at least.

Mounting concern

For months, we'd heard schools were safe, they were controlled, and the spread amongst children was low, which was all true, to a point.

However, by the last week in November, schools were the third most likely place to record Covid-19 clusters.

Concern is rightly mounting now, from teachers and parents alike. 

Household mixing on Christmas Day and over the festive period would mean that the spread and symptoms of the virus would only begin rearing its ugly heads this week and next.

On December 22, our nearest neighbour, Britain, was warned by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) that they needed to close schools to contain coronavirus before Christmas. No such advice was given here, but parents are furiously Googling, and with little direction from Merrion Street, concern will continue to mount.

Teachers with underlying conditions, parents with elderly family at home and anyone - child or adult - considered vulnerable, mulls someone in their close contacts heading into a 39-hour week with 30 other households, with little from government other than "schools by their nature are safe".

No contingency plan

What became clear from anyone who attended a meeting between Minister for Education Norma Foley and opposition TDs was that little-to-no contingency planning has been done for the situation that the schools could shut again.

Schools would be given the same guidelines as before, with all the problems which existed in March still intact, no mention of extra supports for parents or extra laptops for those without.

Disadvantaged children would still suffer, women would still be left to handle the majority of the load and teachers would be left rudderless.

As usual for this unfortunate government, it now finds itself in a mess of its own making. If the schools are safe, why delay their opening? The minister says it was to reduce contacts, but as we continue to flag around 6,000 cases a day and rising, how does returning to school make sense?

If having them open was such a triumph, is keeping them closed admitting you got it wrong by ignoring the Nphet advice and reopening hospitality, retail and household visits?

There may well be answers to these queries, it would take staff in the department an afternoon to collate the data available from school outbreaks and make a handy information leaflet, but as usual, the Government's communications on the issue are missing in action - and in the meantime, panic fills the void.