Teachers: Review masks for children

Pupils aged 6 may need them, after WHO sets new guides

TEACHERS have called for an ‘urgent review’ of rules which exempt primary schoolchildren from wearing masks – as World Health Organisation chiefs say children from the age of six and up may need to wear them.

Currently, only secondary school pupils are being asked to wear masks in Irish schools.

But the WHO has now recommended children aged between six and 11 should wear face coverings, if they are in areas of widespread transmission of the virus, or if the child is interacting with high-risk individuals such as the elderly.

It also stressed the need for adult supervision to help children put on and take off masks safely. Those aged five and under should not normally wear masks, the WHO said. As the first students – from a total of around a million – returned to school yesterday, for the first time in over five months, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) said it has written to Taoiseach Micheál Martin seeking clarity on health advice for primary and special schools.

The INTO said: ‘These issues included the wearing of face coverings and the approach to be taken by the HSE in a school in the event that a pupil or staff member tests positive for Covid-19.’ It said that ‘as 100 children have tested positive in the last fortnight, it is vital that priority access to testing and tracing be made available to everyone in the education sector’.

It added: ‘INTO has noted that the WHO is now recommending children aged six and older wear face masks and, in that context, calls on Government to urgently review the HPSC guidance in relation to children wearing face coverings in certain circumstance.’

The union said it had been promised the guidance would be updated to reflect the changing situation. ‘A review was also promised in light of the experience of other jurisdictions whose schools reopened in May and June,’ the INTO said. The Cabinet sub-committee was to consider the WHO recommendations yesterday.

Tanya Ward, chief executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance, said: ‘We do need clarity, as people are uncertain about when they should be used. The issue for young children of six years old and over, during the primary school day, is trying to balance [the infection rates] against their learning and education. Language development is key at that age, so they need to be able to see the teacher speaking, and children need to be able to speak to each other. And being able to play is key.

‘There are other issues with children’s use of masks, including the false sense of protection, that they might not have them on the right way, and using them safely, including putting them on and taking them off correctly.’

Ms Ward said she could understand why secondary school students had been asked to wear masks, as their infection rates were similar to adults, but added: ‘It is a lot to ask a child to wear them through the whole school day.’

She continued: ‘Obviously, a different approach needs to be taken for children with special needs or additional needs, for whom wearing a mask could be detrimental.’

Parenting expert Laura Erskine, of the BabyDoc Club, said a lot of parents had already decided to equip their young children with masks for primary school.

‘The reason being, they are very aware of the number of contacts their child will have at school, despite the best efforts of the school, and they want to reduce the need for the entire family to isolate throughout the school term, so the children can continue to see their grandparents and other vulnerable family members,’ she said.

She added: ‘Children in many cases are asking their parents for a mask. They see them as some form of fashion statement, and they quite enjoy them. Children like to mimic their peers and adult behaviour, so the wearing of masks is not something that is scary... We have seen how the Government has done a U-turn on mask wearing in shops and public transport. There is mounting evidence of how valuable they are.’

Meanwhile, eyebrows were raised when first-year students began their first day at St Leo’s College in Carlow town with a prayer service in a large assembly hall. RTÉ reported that the 152 students were gathered together on chairs that had a one-metre distance between them.

School principal Niamh Broderick said: ‘We have followed all of the [Education] Department guidelines. We did everything properly and safely. They were very well spaced out and sanitised on the way in and on the way out.’

But the vice president of the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland has said the ASTI is ‘not in favour of big gatherings’ in any part of schools.

Ann Piggott also said it was ‘unwise and ill-advised’ to hold large assemblies in schools.

‘People are uncertain’ ‘Wearing masks is not scary’