Homeschooling? Looks like it’ll be continuing until after mid-term

MANY people feel it is too soon to send their children back to school, as the daily reported number of new Covid-19 cases remains at significant levels, according to parenting groups.

The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) will advise the Government not to allow most schoolchildren to return to classrooms for another five weeks, despite pressure from the public and TDs to send them back sooner.

All primary school children who have significant additional needs will return to the classroom on Thursday, it was confirmed last week. However, parenting experts have said that many parents feel it would be too soon for all children to return to school at the end of this month.

Laura Erskine, of BabyDoc Club parenting website, said that while many parents are feeling the strain of homeschooling, most would be concerned about their children returning to school while the virus remains rampant.

‘I think most parents have prepared themselves for the fact that schools will not be reopening at the end of January,’ she said.

‘I think the Government has been

‘Risk of bringing it back home’

drip-feeding suggestions that it’s not realistic, given the number of Covid-positive cases and indeed the numbers in ICU and deaths.

‘It just simply wouldn’t be safe. When you think back to the first lockdown, when we weren’t even up as high a figure, the schools were closed for an awful lot longer in order to suppress the curve.

‘People realise now more than ever when there are so many cases that are much closer to home… that actually the schools can’t possibly open. I think parents would be worried about returning their children to school and the risk of them bringing it back home.’

Meanwhile, Mary Burke of parenting website Rollercoaster.ie said the news of possibly delaying schools’ reopening until February 22 is a ‘double-edged sword’.

‘In a recent poll on RollerCoaster. ie, a majority of parents stated, “No, the numbers are too high right now” when asked if schools should reopen on January 11 (the original delayed date),’ she said.

‘It is clear that, while case numbers are coming down, it is not yet at a rate that would make parents comfortable enough to send their children back to the classroom.

Ms Burke said: ‘Mums and dads across the country have felt a huge sense of relief and achievement at the weekend as Week One of homeschooling ended. Yes, parents want their kids to get back in school to learn and socialise but not at the risk of their health.’ However, Ms Erskine added that one of the most important things for parents is getting certainty around the length of the closure.

‘I think the biggest frustration for parents is not actually getting this information at the beginning in terms of planning appropriately, in terms of balancing work and childcare commitments. And that’s frustrating.’

Public health doctors and officials told the MoS that they will begin the Covid-19 restrictions review this week and schools will be one of the first items on the agenda. But meetings conducted at the Department of Health this week settled on a preliminary date of February 22, for the return of all children to school.

It is understood that the school year could be thrown into further flux as Education Minister Norma Foley told the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party that ‘manipulation of school holidays’ is one of the many measures that the Department of Education is looking at to try and catch up on learning time for children.

‘The review of schools begins this week and the period for closure of schools will expire on February 1,’ a member of NPHET said.

‘But, with the figures being where they are, we can’t see the entire school population returning on that date so what we envisage happening is that there would be a two-week extension of this, but then the mid-term would have come,’ a NPHET source said.

The Department of Education has said the decision of when to reopen schools will be dictated by ‘public health advice’.

However, sources at the Department of Education confirmed to the Irish Mail on Sunday at the weekend that Ms Foley is determined that Leaving Cert students return on February 1.

The Government initially planned for Leaving Cert students to return to schools for three days a week in order to keep up with their studies. However, a U-turn was made earlier this month following backlash to the decision from teachers, students and parents who feared it was unsafe.

‘Review begins this week’