Schools should be staying open

AS we await the decisions of the Executive on our approach to life in the next months, I hope that they will carefully consider the effects of these decisions on our children and young people.

I have seen in my own classroom the advantage to children of learning face-to-face, engaging with each other educationally and socially and benefiting from consistency in their dayto-day life.

Over the past year, our children have all suffered, to a greater or lesser degree, from reduced access to educational and social activities. This has been at considerable cost to their well-being and development.

I appreciate that others have had different experiences, but I do not believe this affects the validity of deciding for in-class teaching.

While children and young people are members of society and have to compromise for the good of all, this cuts both ways and I believe it is time to prioritise their position. After all, they are the ones who will inherit our society and economy in the years to come.

I wonder how they will look back at the decisions we made at this time and the consequences for them and us that followed.

I would encourage all decision-makers to be creative in finding ways to compensate in other ways for schools to remain open for our children.

We all have a part to play in encouraging the development of resilience in the next generation.

ALAN HAYWARD (P6 teacher) By email