*Photograph: John Mangan
SCHOOLS remaining open during the month of January needs to kept under “tight review,” a Clare TD has said.
On Tuesday evening, the Department of Education confirmed that schools would reopen as planned this coming Thursday. It follows a meeting between Minister for Education Norma Foley (FF), public health representatives, the HSE and education stakeholders.
In a statement, the Department said that public health advice remains that COVID-19 mitigation measures in place in schools “are effective and appropriate”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Deputy Cathal Crowe (FF) admitted he has “a number of concerns” regarding the situation at schools but backed the decision made by public health officials which was endorsed by key Government officials.
He believed the reopening of schools needed to be “kept under a tight review during the month of January”. Crowe said that the forecasted peak of the Omicron variant “may arise in the second or third week of January, if we have a scenario when it becomes increasingly difficult to staff schools or that schools have become a focal point of transmission then we need to react to that situation”.
Crowe said the present situation is “far from ideal” and admitted that he has fielded emails from concerned second level students across Clare who are “demanding that the schools reopen” so that they can adequately prepare for upcoming Mock and State examinations. “There is a real expectancy to have a regular Leaving Certificate and a regular run-in to it, anything to derail that would be devastating”.
Formerly a primary school teacher at Parteen NS, the TD flagged that former colleagues have stressed the need to improve “mitigating measures” in education settings. He felt there was room from improvement when it came to the provision of HEPA filters. “Fresh air and open windows seem to be one of the best mitigating measures but it doesn’t necessarily work well during a cold snap of weather, we need for once and for all to invest in HEPA filters”.
