Should schools be kept open?

A school principal and a special needs teacher have their say on whether schools should stay closed or reopen.

Opinions are divided over whether schools should reopen or not. File photo: iStock

Parents, teachers and schoolchildren are anxiously waiting for the official word on school closures due to Covid-19. Opinions are divided, even within families.

Here, two teachers have their say on whether schools should close.

No - Mairead De Búrca: Schools are not safe with the virus rampant in the community 

I HAVE been a primary teacher for many years. I love my job. Like many other teachers, I am guilty of neglecting my own children in my devotion to my pupils.

However, I have been on the brink of resigning several times since March. The constant criticism against teachers is disheartening, but the illogical messaging that schools are safe is downright frightening.

When Education Minister Norma Foley announced that all children would return to school all at once, I was very anxious. It was such an unsafe way to reopen for many reasons.

1. The public health safety measures for society that we hear about constantly were not implemented for schools by Ms Foley.
Public Health advise us all to limit contacts, maintain at least 2m social distancing, wear masks, and avoid unventilated indoor spaces.

Pods and bubbles were rolled out as a major safety measure. Sorry, but pods are merely groups at tables, and bubbles are the class. We always had groups and classes, we need more for children and staff to be safe. Teachers have far too many contacts in school; 2m distance is impossible because classes are too large; masks need to be mandated in primary. Schools need proper ventilation systems, and the same test-and-trace rules as the rest of society must be applied to school communities.

2. It is untrue to say that schools are safe. Paul Reid, HSE CEO, described Covid-19 today as being “rampant”. These community infection rates mean infection enters schools via the community and from schools back to the community. The Alerting parents of outbreaks in schools ‘Ireland’ Facebook page has published hundreds of accounts of Covid cases in Irish schools.

The constant criticism against teachers is disheartening, but the illogical messaging that schools are safe is downright frightening. File photo: iStock

Former UK chief scientific adviser Mark Walport told Andrew Marr on Sunday: “We know that transmission occurs within schools”. UK Sage agrees. 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s decision-making tool for schools shows that Irish schools are, by some criteria, at “highest risk of transmission”.

Unlike the department, many schools have been preparing a Plan B in case of another school closure. My own school has been very proactive — we bought Seesaw For Schools for all pupils and used it every day, so that pupils and parents are familiar with it. We are ready to go.

Some people are already criticising teachers. Some refer to closures contributing to mental health problems, but school attendance during a pandemic also impacts negatively on mental health. 

Some of my own pupils blossomed during the last closure. Anxiety was significantly reduced for them. 

The cuts to mental health services are what impact most on mental health.

Some commentators think certain groups need to be in school, because school is the only support those children have. Schools cannot take on all of society’s needs. All other agencies need to be properly funded to do their own jobs. 

School staff are not qualified healthcare workers, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, counsellors, or mental health experts. We cannot do it all. We need all of society to help.

What about special and Deis schools? Some say it is possible to have vulnerable children in school and to keep staff safe. When questioned, one commentator pointed to the UK managing it safely. The rate of infection for UK teachers is 333% above average. 

The UK is a poor example to follow. Two days ago, Boris Johnson claimed: “Schools are safe. The risk for staff is very small”. Yesterday, he announced schools will close because schools are “vectors” for Covid-19. 

Special schools are schools too. Pupils in special schools and classes are “vectors” too, probably more so, because they need such close contact and have more adults in the room (teacher and SNAs).

One principal believes opening schools is very unsafe, her pupils do not have “some sort of protective beam against Covid”. File photo: iStock

I asked some fellow teachers their views about opening some schools/classes. One principal believes it is very unsafe, her pupils do not have “some sort of protective beam against Covid”. 

Another, a Deis 2 teacher, is troubled about who to include or exclude. Who qualifies as vulnerable or frontline? How does she tell some to stay away?

Another says that this is not the time to bring anyone into school buildings. He added that he will go above and beyond for his pupils, but not at the price of his health. Another acquaintance teaches in a special school. She worries that most pupils use school transport. 

An ASD teacher I know experienced a major Covid outbreak. He said it is safer to close, and he will use Seesaw and Zoom to keep in touch every day.

I absolutely agree that we must do more for our schoolchildren. We must do our very best. Right now, we need children to stay at home.

Not one child should lose their life. Reopening must be done safely next time. Gradually, not all at once. Children diagnosed with an additional educational need must be prioritised for a slow, gradual reopening. Basic public health advice must be followed.

Mairead de Burca is a special educational needs teacher in a primary school in Co. Cork

Yes - Hugh Cronin: Schools provide security and consistency for at-risk children 

The last occasion Irish schools closed was during the depths of the Famine. Irish society always placed enormous value on education and schooling, the necessary closure had far reaching implications for young people and upon our collective National psyche. 

It was no surprise then, that our current coalition government made the reopening of schools for children their no.1 priority.

Reopening our schools during a pandemic was a mammoth achievement, largely undertaken by volunteer Boards of Management and school leadership. The task was daunting as each school faced into the unknown in a mission to safely reopen, whilst assuring anxious children, parents and staff. 

Often hiding their own worries and fears for the safety of the children and staff in their care. The rationale was simple, Covid will pass but Ireland’s children must not become a forgotten generation. 

Health Experts must urgently devise realistic data-driven guidelines to provide education and schooling for all Irish children. File photo: iStock

All teachers and SNA’s understood their mission to keep the children safe whilst ensuring their academic progress and emotional wellbeing. Staff and children adapted quickly, and indeed rigorous inspection regimes carried out by Department of Education Inspectors and HSA, ensured consistency and gave assistance to schools. 

The collective efforts of teachers ensured our children safely returned to their teachers to learn, grow and develop together.

The enormous and largely hidden role that schools play in supporting the welfare of children was greatly exposed during the closure. Whilst our children’s academic development is fundamental to their futures, it is often dwarfed by the pastoral role schools play in society. 

Our society will be judged on how we care for our most vulnerable and the loss of frontline disability services in schools was deeply felt by many thousands of families.

Man Utd’s Marcus Rashford became a household name for providing school meals for vulnerable families during the UK lockdown. However, Irish teachers quietly performed this role during the last closure, ensuring the provision of school meals programmes continued throughout the lockdown. 

Education has a key emancipatory function in alleviating social and economic disadvantage. Closure will again result in loss of direct contact with many of the youngsters that benefit the most from the consistent learning environment of school. 

This will have long-term consequences, and potential loss of teenagers from the education system.

Schools are very often the first point of contact for TUSLA. Teachers and SNA’s are frontline defence for vulnerable children at risk of neglect and abuse. As we face into a dark January lockdown, many homes are under severe pressure due to unemployment, stress and many families are on the brink. 

School provides a safe, secure, consistent space for children sheltered from the untold anxiety of our Covid world. Each child knows what they can expect coming in the classroom door each morning to be with their friends; safely learning and growing. As pandemic fatigue grows, schools will ensure that a consistent responsible public health message reaches every child.

School closure will place critical additional pressure on frontline workers in the fight against Covid. 

Teachers are not babysitters, we are in Loco Parentis (in place of the parent). We must ensure that our public sector colleagues, in Covid Wards and Garda Stations, can go to work knowing teachers are educating and caring for their children. 

As a society we will defeat Covid through mutually supporting each other.

As Cabinet meets today to decide on school closure, what must Policy Makers do to ensure that any pause is of minimum duration? We need to begin with what we have learned. 

1) Accept that the reopening process was not perfect. What’s important is that we utilise this experience, particularly in relation to contact tracing and testing in schools. Teachers and parents must be enabled to trust that guidelines for schools reduce risk to minimum. 

2) September reopening week saw an average 135 positive results a day nationally, this week we saw more than 6000 daily. The sands have shifted, what was acceptable risk mitigation for many parents and teachers then is not now. Teachers and parents are rightly worried for themselves and their children due to current levels of community transmission.

It’s not too late for Policy Makers. Our Public Health experts in NPHED have guided us this far and we expect an urgent review and update of school safety guidelines.

This review must be evidence-based and take into account real life school experience. Education experts in the Teacher Unions and Management bodies must inform this process. As a society we must maintain the provision of schooling for our most vulnerable children from January 11th, whilst protecting children and staff health. 

Health Experts must urgently devise realistic data-driven guidelines to provide education and schooling for all Irish children. Teachers want to do what’s right, policy makers must provide the tools and confidence.

“We’re in this together”, lets get on with it.

Hugh Cronin is Principal at Ballynoe National School, Co. Cork.