Education bosses work to provide parents with clarity

Education chiefs are developing a system for parents needing to put their children back in school once the Covid-19 alert level drops to 3.

The Ministry of Education yesterday released more information on what a potential drop to level 3 means for school children, who have been learning from home in lockdown.

The move is aimed at clearing up confusion over whether a return to school or early childhood centres is a choice for parents.

Secretary for Education Iona Holsted said that at level 3 parents and caregivers should, where they can, keep their children at home.

“Schools and early learning services will be physically open for those who need them. Parents who can keep children at home should keep them at home. Parents who need to send them to school can do so.

“We will develop systems so that parents can advise if their children need to return to school or early learning so their health and wellbeing, and that of school staff, can be managed in accordance with public health principles. We are working through this with the education sector to find workable solutions.”

A level 3 alert means some aspects of ordinary life can resume including, under certain controls, reopening of early childhood services and schools.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will announce tomorrow if New Zealand will move into level 3 from next Thursday and, if so, schools are likely to reopen on April 29.

Holsted said parents and caregivers best understood their own situations and know that “we are in extraordinary times”.

“They will play their part to help keep their children at home, but it is important that schools and early learning centres are physically open for those parents who need them.”

Ministry bulletins had already determined how schools and early childhood services would operate under level 3, including:

● Limiting group sizes (bubbles) in schools and early learning centres to 10 children initially, and no mixing between bubbles

● Staggering start and finish times, and break times, to avoid mixing

● Following strict health rules, including hand sanitiser in all classes

● Special schools and after-school programmes remaining closed

Teachers commenting on the NZ Educational Institute Facebook page this week were overwhelmingly worried about the safety of other people in their home “bubbles”, and were reluctant to return to their classrooms until alert level 2.

The decision was gambling with the lives of children and their teachers, Hillcrest High School teacher Stevan Sharples said.

“This is not a game of Russian roulette.”

Principals’ Federation president Perry Rush also initially expressed concerns but, after speaking with Holsted and other officials, told other principals careful planning would make the Government’s plan workable while also keeping staff and students safe.