Teachers are feeling pressure on the front line

TEACHERS feel they are taking their life in their hands having to decide whether to return to the school building, a local teacher and parent who wishes to remain anonymous has said.

‘ The case numbers are going up and it’s like a war situation. We’re fighting with this virus and sending our kids out to be in the middle of it if we’ve to send them back to school.

‘I work in Gorey Community School and back in September, things were different and the school felt safe from the minute you walked into it. We were given grants and we felt very safe, the strain wasn’t as bad. I was relieved with the u-turn, because the school is safe but the people coming into them may not be.

‘I had to really contemplate whether if I would go back as even if just Leaving Certs returned, that’s 250 students, over 100 teachers and extra cleaning staff, which would be nearly 400 families mixing in a small facility’.

She said that students contacted her to express their concerns about going back.

‘Most people have someone who is vulnerable, and a lot of the young people have grandparents they are helping out. At the same time, students are worried about their grades. If you give a test, they want to know if you’re recording it and if it will affect their predictive grades.

‘I don’t know what the answer is but if the government could get the people on the ground to come up with ideas, it could help as we all have ideas as teachers.

She said that online learning takes time, but a lot of students prefer it as there are fewer distractions.

‘During the first lockdown I was getting up at 7 a.m. and not going to bed until 11 p.m. at night preparing school work. The students email you at any time and expect you’ll get back to them as they are used to that kind of lifestyle.

‘I know as teachers we get bad press, people don’t deal well with the fact that we have summers off and don’t understand the hours we put in and what the role of a teacher is. It’s a big problem and you see it with the Department as well’.

Having had Covid-positive students in her class in the first term, the teacher said that it is a constant concern.

‘I’ve seen students that come back into school after having Covid-19 and they think they’re invincible. Some of them don’t understand the dangers and with so many students, it’s near impossible to monitor them all at all times as to whether they’re keeping the two metre distance.

‘ They are very good in the classroom but they leave the school gates and think that Covid is gone’.

Another staff member at the same school, who also wished to remain anonymous said that those in the sector feel they are being ‘ thrown to the wolves’.

‘In September, we got to grips and it was workable but it’s not safe anymore as the new variant is a game changer. I know a school isn’t a hospital or a nursing home, but 25 students in a class room is still exposure. We are just expected to put up with it, but none of us want to get the virus and bring it home’.

“Students are very good in the classroom but they leave it and think Covid is gone”