By Vivienne Clarke
The general secretary of the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI), Michael Gillespie has said that schools should not reopen if social distancing measures cannot be adhered to and if structural works to ensure that have not yet been carried out.
Mr Gillespie said that his union supports the reopening of schools once all teachers and pupils were protected, but he was concerned that some schools might not have sufficient resources in place.
A survey among school principals and vice principals carried out by the TUI had found that there were a number of cases where schools had not yet completed the structural works, he told Newstalk Breakfast.
Some principals had found it difficult to get contractors in to carry out the necessary works and they should delay reopening until such works had been carried out. Some schools were also considering staggered reopenings to ensure works were completed.
Unprecedented challenge
“There may be delays, but they will reopen,” he said. “We would prefer schools to delay to reopen properly and to sustain the opening, but we are talking days, not weeks or months.”
Mr Gillespie said this was an “unprecedented challenge” for the education sector as one million people return to education. The cutbacks of the last 10 years, lack of broadband and large class sizes were now “showing up” the faults in the system, all of which needed to be overcome to bring students back to education, he said.
“We want all the stakeholders to stick to the medical advice, to do what is required of them to keep teachers and pupils safe.”
The Forsa trade union’s head of education, Andy Pyke also told Newstalk Breakfast that there was a serious issue with regard to Special Needs Assistants (SNA) who will have to work in close proximity with pupils and will not be able to observe social distancing guidelines. For high risk staff this will represent a significant problem, he said.
