UNIONS’ BLOW TO SCHOOLS OPENING

÷Deadliest day of pandemic with 93 deaths ÷No new vaccine doses for hospitals this week

THE Government has been forced to abandon plans to reopen special schools tomorrow, after unions rejected the plan. The decision has come as a devastating blow to the parents of as many as 23,000 vulnerable children, many of whom cannot adjust to online learning.

Campaigners for the families issued a statement last night outlining their hurt and frustration, and saying they were ‘almost completely forgotten’ in the discussions between the Government and unions.

The news emerged on one of the worst days of the pandemic, as the daily death toll hit a record high of 93, while there will be 25,000 fewer doses of the vaccine available this week, as the delivery is being cut in half.

Education Minister Norma Foley

was forced to abandon the planned phased return for 23,000 of the vulnerable pupils last night after the unions representing teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) refused to co-operate.

The Department of Education described the lack of co-operation as ‘regrettable’, saying that the minister had reassured the unions that schools ‘with risk mitigation measures in place provide a safe environment for staff and students’.

Trade unions Fórsa and the INTO said that efforts to reassure school staff that it was safe for schools to open have failed.

The unions, which represent approximately 15,000 SNAs, warned the Government to ‘avoid a confrontational approach that forces a reopening on tens of thousands of fearful staff who want to follow public health advice’.

However, one mother, Sarah Murphy, who has a 12-year-old son with Down syndrome, said her child has regressed since the schools have closed. She said returning to class is not just about learning, but is also vital for social and emotional reasons.

And Paul Whelan, who has two sons – Jayden, 12, and Calvin, 10 – with intellectual disabilities told the Irish Daily Mail that the school

‘You can already see the regression’

closures had been ‘devastating’ for his sons because of the lack of routine and structure to their day.

He said: ‘It is very stressful. It’s exhausting. You can already see signs of regression. Their sleeping patterns are all over the place.

‘My wife is at home on her own and they are both sleeping at different times. I still have to go to work. My wife is finding it tough to look after two of them.’

And in a hard-hitting statement last night, Ms Foley said: ‘It is hugely important to provide inperson learning to this vulnerable cohort of children, and I regret that this has not been possible.

‘The needs of this group of students are such that no-one should be in any doubt of the importance of this goal, and its urgency.

‘We all understand how vulnerable these children are, and how much they need to be in school.

‘The concerns and fears of teachers and SNAs have been well articulated, and I, along with my officials, have listened carefully at every stage of this process.

‘I have full confidence in our public health advice which, at all times, has underpinned our approach to keeping schools safe.’

And she added: ‘Ireland is an outlier in the European Union in not having in-person provision available for students with special educational needs at this time.

‘We have addressed the concerns raised in relation to safety, including making public health officials available to education partner representatives, and subsequently facilitating three of the most senior public health officials in the country to communicate directly with teachers and SNAs.’

She added: ‘This is the first time that unions have refused to accept the advice provided by public health specialists.’

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said on RTÉ’s Prime Time last night: ‘I would encourage the unions to get back to school… the kids who suffered most in the first lockdown were the ones with special needs.’

However, he added: ‘The Government runs the country but it is a democracy and teachers have a right to consider their own safety and their representative unions have a right to ask very valid questions and to say, “We want the following measures in place”. It was my hope the special needs schools would be open tomorrow.’

In a statement yesterday, four leading advocacy organisations – AsIAm, Down Syndrome Ireland, Family Carers Ireland and Inclusion Ireland – said that children with special educational needs, and their families and carers have been ‘almost completely forgotten in the conversations between stakeholders over the partial reopening of schools’.

Following meetings of the unions’ executives last night, Fórsa and the INTO said efforts to reassure school staff that it was safe for schools to open limited services to students with special education needs had failed. Both urged the Government to postpone the resumption of school-based SEN services until further discussions.

INTO general secretary John Boyle said: ‘We are calling on the Government to avoid a confrontational approach that forces a reopening on tens of thousands of fearful staff who want to follow public health advice.

‘Instead, they should continue to work with us to ensure that schools are safe for students and staff.’

Fórsa’s head of education Andy Pike said: ‘The Government hasn’t won the support of special education stakeholders. I’m sure this was not the intention, but we are in a desperately sad situation where rushed efforts to prematurely reopen schools have pitched the special needs community against itself.’

He said SNAs felt they had been backed into a corner.

Warning against industrial action, he said that ‘if this goes further it could result in further conflict’.

He said this was not something the unions wanted.

Mr Pike said the unions were calling on the Government to step back now.

‘Safety concerns not addressed’