Good news at last for parents. Home schooling is over
No more remote or blended learning, says Foley
ALL pupils will return to the classroom when schools reopen next month, the Education Minister has said.
The long-awaited guidelines to fully reopen schools are expected to be published on Monday after the Minister brings a memo to Cabinet.
And Norma Foley yesterday ruled out remote and blended learning for pupils returning to school.
‘All students and teachers’ will be back on campus at the end of August, she said, but added that there will be ‘exceptional cases’ involving ‘high risk’ scenarios – which will be catered for.
The Minister has been facing mounting pressure in recent weeks to push ahead with plans and make them available to schools.
Ms Foley described the document as ‘detailed and comprehensive’.
Speaking after she briefed Taoiseach Micheál Martin on the plan, Ms Foley said: ‘The full and safe reopening of schools is my number one objective.
‘The partners in education, including parents, teachers, students, principals, and the widest representation, have fully and totally engaged in this process.
‘Clarity takes time. I am confident that what I take to Cabinet will be solutionfocused, it will be a road map that everyone can clearly identify with.’
Mr Martin said he was ‘struck’ by the detailed planning, describing it as ‘comprehensive’.
He said that schools, parents, students and all the stakeholders in education helped shape the document.
‘The Minister will be bringing a very comprehensive memorandum to the Government on Monday, which will outline a package of measures which will be required to enable the reopening of schools.
‘There are some final details to be done over the weekend.
‘This isn’t just about the resumption of schools for the sake of it, it’s very much a comprehensive set of measures that will enable schools to reopen fully, but also in a resilient and robust way.’
He said he is confident pupils will be back in school by the end of August.
Sinn Féin’s education spokesman Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said the return to school ‘will require significant investment in hygiene measures, PPE and partitions in order to keep teachers and staff safe.’ But staff say they have no idea what to expect when the so-called roadmap is revealed. A general lack of communication has left many staff wondering if they will have to wear PPE during class time or if they’ll be provided with adequate funding to help them cover the costs of making their school Covid-ready. One primary principal from a Galway-based school told the Irish Daily Mail she has had no interaction with the Department of Education since they closed in March.
‘I’m not surprised at this stage that they’re not giving us insight into what this roadmap will look like. I’ve been up to my eyes for weeks trying to get through to the Department, but I’ve given up.’
Terry Flanagan, a long-serving secondary teacher from Dublin, said social distancing was among his biggest concerns. ‘No matter what Norma Foley announces on Monday, there’s no way that she or anyone else can increase the size of our classrooms,’ he said.
‘There’s not a chance that schools will be able to observe distancing in classrooms if we are to expect a full return.’