Across Ireland, schools and colleges are preparing to fully reopen over the coming weeks. As students and their families gear up for the change in routine, many will find themselves balancing anticipation over a return to the classroom with anxiety over health concerns.
Public health authorities say evidence available from the operation of schools to date shows they are low-risk environments due to infection prevention and control measures. They have advised that new variants of the disease do not change existing safety steps such as physical distancing, isolation of positive cases along with contact tracing and mass-testing of close contacts. In colleges, the fact that most adults will be vaccinated means campuses will reopen, with safeguards such as social distancing, mask-wearing and restrictions on numbers indoors.
But the reopening of education isn’t without risk. Children under 12 are not yet eligible for Covid-19 vaccination. Though children are far less likely than unvaccinated adults to develop severe illness, they can become infected with the virus. Children can also contribute to the community spread of Covid-19. This is particularly concerning in light of surging case rates and the rise of the highly transmissible Delta variant.
It is vital, therefore, that existing measures to reduce the spread of the virus are maintained. Some zero-Covid advocates and health experts say this is not good enough. They argue that the Delta variant and rising case numbers mean our children have never before been at more risk of infection and disease. They are seeking extra social distancing, high quality facemasks for students and teachers across primary and secondary along with medical-grade air filters. A failure to do so, they say, runs the risk of mass infection of unvaccinated schoolchildren. Some of these proposed measures are realistic, others are aspirational. However, it is vital that health authorities continue to review the latest data and that money is not spared on any measures which could make our classrooms safer.
A third year of large-scale disruption to children’s education must be avoided. School closures over the past 18 months have taken a heavy toll on the young. While most children experienced learning loss, it was the most vulnerable – those from disadvantaged backgrounds and with special needs – who suffered the steepest setbacks. Schools are not just seats of learning. For many children they provide a lifeline to much-needed therapeutic support, security, structure and care. In disadvantaged areas, they provide breakfasts, lunches and extra-curricular activities. The needs of these children must be put front and centre.
When the pandemic is eventually brought under control, the State will face a huge task in helping children catch up and recover from the disruption of school closures. It must not make that task harder by falling behind on its own commitments.