Majority of teachers fearful over access to virus tests: union
Two-thirds of teachers in Northern Ireland are concerned about access to coronavirus tests, a survey has suggested.
Some reported delays in the system, and colleagues and pupils having to travel long distances to obtain them.
More than six in 10 (62%) be
lieved youngsters had displayed symptoms consistent with Covid-19 since the full reopening of schools this term, union NASUWT said. Its survey also highlighted concerns about measures designed to minimise the risk of virus transmission within classrooms.
NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach said: “It is evident that the capacity issues in the testing system need to be urgently addressed in order to ensure schools can stay open and to minimise the disruption to pupils’ learning.
“The NASUWT believes that all teachers who need to self-isolate due to coronavirus should also be able to get a test, irrespective of whether or not they have Covid-19 symptoms.” Schools reopened last month after closures to hamper the spread of the virus. However, several have closed since, including Holy Cross College in Strabane, Co Tyrone, and Malone Integrated College in Belfast.
STORMONT’S number one priority is to keep schools open despite a surge in coronavirus cases, Education Minister Peter Weir has said.
And First Minister Arlene Foster warned that while there were no plans to extend the forthcoming half-term break, “of course things are changing quite quickly”.
“I think it is important to say that we want to keep schools open,” Mrs Foster said.
Mr Weir, speaking at Dungannon Primary School to launch a support programme to help children’s learning during the pandemic, said there was no sign the return to the classroom was responsible for a recent upsurge in Covid-19 cases here.
His comments come after Holy Cross College in Strabane announced its temporary closure after a number of positive tests for the virus.
“The aim is to get the maximum amount of schools open on any one particular day but we are dealing with the situation where there are maybe something between 15 to 20,000 classrooms in Northern Ireland,” Mr Weir said.
“There will be localised outbreaks and individual cases and it is right that public health advice is followed under those circumstances, so there will be bumps along the road.
“But what we are seeing is the vast majority of schools are open and most pupils will see their studies being completely uninterrupted in that regard, but we need to deal with those situations.”
Mr Weir said that the advice from the Chief Medical Officer is that adults and children are more likely to bring the virus into schools rather than pupils spreading Covid-19 within the school.
“I think schools have taken a large number of mitigation measures to try to prevent that,” he added.
“The Executive has made it very clear that they see, in terms of sectors within Northern Ireland, education as being the top priority. Ensuring that our children have life chances through education is probably the most critical thing we can do at this time in terms of opening up society.”
Mrs Foster also attended Dungannon Primary for the launch of the £11.2m Engage Programme aimed at addressing the impact of Covid-19 on learning.
She said there were no plans to extend the half-term break to allow a more stringent lockdown.
“We are not considering that at the moment, but of course things are changing quite quickly. We will listen to what the medical advice is in all of these matters,” she said.
“We recognise the damage that was done by the closure of schools. It was a necessity at that point in time, but it is important that our young people are able to come to school, have that routine, have that education, have that society of mixing together with their peers.”