Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
D-DAY FOR SCHOOLS MEETING RETURN
Pupils and parents could get ‘definitive’ decision tomorrow
DEFINITIVE decisions may be made tomorrow on reopening schools, the Education Minister revealed yesterday.
Peter Weir said he would not want to wait more than a week before making the call.
Pupils in Northern Ireland have been out of class since the start of the Christmas break.
Mr Weir told the BBC: “If it is not
something definitive on Thursday it would need to be something fairly soon after that.”
The Executive has already said it will be March 8 at the earliest before schools can open their gates to more pupils.
Current arrangements only allow vulnerable children and those of key workers to attend class until Friday, March 5.
Whether or not schools will open fully the following Monday remains in doubt and will depend on the public health situation.
If the current remote learning arrangements are altered on March 8, all pupils may not be able to get back into the classroom immediately.
Mr Weir has previously raised the potential of a phased return, with those in key exam years heading back first.
He said yesterday: “It is important that people are given notice but we have also got to bear in mind that there has got to be decisions... looking at where things are in terms of the public health situation.”
Meanwhile, younger and older pupils in Scotland will go back to school next week under plans confirmed by the First Minister.
Nicola Sturgeon told MSPS children in P1 to P3 and some senior phase students will resume classroom learning from Monday.
She has repeatedly said a resumption of schooling is her priority and she recently suggested a phased return.
Addressing MSPS, Ms Sturgeon confirmed that pre-school children and pupils in primaries 1, 2 and 3 would return from Monday.
She added a limited number of senior phase students will also go back to the classroom.
The First Minister also said she hoped to set out the second phase of school re-opening in two weeks.
But in order to assess the impact of this limited reopening, Sturgeon said it was unlikely, at this stage, of any further return to school before March 15.
Senior secondary pupils will also be required to observe two-metre physical distancing.