Our children too long off school
With many classes back across Europe, the Children’s Council calls for a Government rethink
THE Government should reconsider its decision to shut down schools for six months, according to the National Children’s Advisory Council.
Primary schools have reopened in France, Germany, Switzerland, Australia and the Netherlands recently. Schools in Estonia, Iceland and Sweden have remained open throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tanya Ward, the council’s chairwoman, said that children have a right to education. ‘We need to ask ourselves if six months off from school appropriately balances the absolute right of children to access education,’ she said yesterday. ‘A fresh look at the Government roadmap needs to get the balance right.’
And Fianna Fáil education spokesman Thomas Byrne echoed Ms Ward’s concerns yesterday. ‘I’m thinking of all pupils but also particularly children with special needs,’ he said.
‘I think we need full open discussions about when is appropriate for children and to make sure that if September is the date, which it seems to be, that we are ready for that, we’re fully planning for it and we’re doing absolutely everything we can with full determination to do that.
‘I agree with Tanya Ward that the long absence of children from education is not good for them.
‘While teachers are working very hard at the moment, we don’t have a proper system of online learning in this country, unlike other countries. We just don’t have the resources in place.
‘So, this scenario can’t continue. We must make sure that our schools can open safely and we do everything possible to make sure that happens,’ he said.
‘And that’s why I’ve looked to the Ombudsman for Children to be involved in whatever discussions are happening so children have an independent voice in the department.’
He said: ‘We need to roll out an online platform for education. They have it in other countries.
‘Not that we would move online but that if children are expected to use iPads or other devices, first of all that we have a robust national policy on that but also that we have the national systems in place so we’re not simply handing out devices or handing out lists of apps that you can use, which is what seems to be happening at the moment.
‘We need a full, coherent system in place and the technological infrastructure in place in our education system,’ he said.
As pressure mounts on parents balancing home schooling and remote working, Health Minister Simon Harris has explored the option of reopening schools for one or two days a week before the end of the summer.
However, that proposal looks highly unlikely with September’s back-toschool plan now in full flow.
‘It has to be safe,’ Mr Byrne said. ‘There’s particular issues there with sixth-class children for example, and fifth years are very worried about their Leaving Cert as well so there’s a whole load of issues there that have to be
considered. If it were possible to do staggered openings safely before the roadmap tells us in late June, I’d support it but I don’t think it has set out at the moment that that’s possible, but I think we certainly can’t let it go beyond September.
‘There’s huge experience there internationally and we need to look at what’s happening and how they’re doing it – what extra precautions are needed and how that’s working out.’
‘So, look, we have time on our side but it’s essential that we do it right,’ he added.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony
Holohan said earlier this month that he does ‘not anticipate’ that schools will be returning until September, while the Department of Education is basing its decisions for a return date on advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team.