Jess Casey: Teacher conferences may be online, but Norma Foley won't get off the hook

Covid and the classroom will get high billing at the teacher conferences, which get underway today. 

In the halcyon days before Covid forced us all online, trade union members could let their discontent be known with placards at the annual teacher conferences. As they get underway virtually today, it will be interesting to see what form the simmering tensions take. And boy, are those tensions there.  

The seemingly sudden change to the vaccine rollout last week is just the latest in a series of incidents to aggrieve those working in our schools during the pandemic. They include, but are not limited to, the handling of last year’s Leaving Cert, a late recall of potentially dangerous hand sanitiser, and a second closure of schools.