Schools must reopen despite Covid, but periods of closure are inevitable

With less than a week remaining before Ireland’s secondary schools reopen their doors for the new school year, flexibility, clear communication and understanding must be the core priorities for students, teachers and parents alike.

Since the closure of schools in March, it has been clear that implementing a safe reopening plan for 723 secondary schools, 371,450 students, and 30,623 teachers would be difficult. The criticism of our new Minister for Education, Norma Foley, is perhaps premature for that reason.

If wider school outbreaks occur, full school communities may have to revert to online learning

We have the funding and reopening guidelines. It is now up to each school community to implement them. The alternative is prolonged online teaching and learning. While this approach, which has become commonplace at third level, was necessary during the peak of the pandemic, its continuation at post-primary level would have long-term negative effects on student learning, particularly for disadvantaged students with limited access to IT and broadband resources.

A return to traditional classroom education is therefore in the best interests of students, teachers, and parents. So, how can we make it work?

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Once schools reopen, we must accept that that they will not remain open continuously throughout the school year. This is inevitable.

Despite everyone’s best efforts, it is very likely that coronavirus will transmit from the community to our school populations. What we can control, however, is how often this spread occurs and if it continues to spread after that initial transmission.

For that reason, it is crucial that all school communities remain flexible and adaptive to the status of the disease in their community. Blended learning, whether prescribed by the Department of Education or not, will be ongoing in such circumstances; 2020/21 will not be a normal school year.

This flexible approach to blended learning will involve some students, as an entire class or in smaller pods within each class, reverting to online learning at home if suspected or confirmed cases of the virus arise. In line with public health advice, these students will remain supported by their teachers for the incubation period and will be returned to traditional classroom learning after that time elapses and each student tests negative for the virus.

If wider school outbreaks occur, full school communities may have to revert to online learning. As a priority and within public health guidelines, every effort will be made to first return State examination year groups to the classroom on such occasions.

A core objective for Ireland’s post-primary school leadership is ensuring that all school stakeholders work with us in implementing and adhering to strict disease transmission prevention procedures.

While this is a big ask, the nature of coronavirus means that even if 1-2 per cent of students are uncooperative, the risk of disease transmission to an entire school population will be greatly increased. Co-operation from everyone is key.

This means that students will be asked to sacrifice some of the school norms they have always enjoyed, such as many of their favourite extracurricular activities and frequent peer-to-peer interaction.

Until there is a vaccine or other effective treatment for the virus, we must learn to live with the disease

However, it is crucial that students don’t feel overwhelmed by rules and regulations; rather than coronavirus guidance that is dictated from on high, we must strive for an approach that is rooted in collaboration between schools and the student body.

In recent weeks, understanding of the school reopening process has been confused by social media commentary, much of it misinformed. If we are to take a collaborative approach to this process, then clear communication to and from all school stakeholders is crucial.

School leaders have the momentous task of developing infrastructure and processes to prevent disease transmission. They must then communicate this accurately in an extremely short period of time.

We can’t always get it right; there are many moving parts, and we are all operating in an extremely fluid situation with limited resources and no precedent. However, students and their parents should rest assured that every effort is being made to ensure the safety and continuity of our entire school community.

At a national level, the post-primary school leader view is to follow all guidance as outlined in the Government framework for reopening schools. Some schools have communicated a requirement for additional measures, such as daily washing of uniforms. This school-specific guidance, while rooted in the best interests of students, cannot overshadow or contradict the prescribed Department of Education guidance, nor should it create unnecessary impediments for students and parents.

The diversity of our school-age population means that we have many students and teachers who are, for a multitude of reasons, immunocompromised or otherwise at greater risk of severe coronavirus illness.

School leaders must be understanding of this. No student or teacher should be asked to attend the traditional school setting where medical guidance advises otherwise. Every effort must be made to ensure that no student is disadvantaged if they are required to continue home or blended learning this school year. To support this effort, schools need enhanced investment in remote learning and IT infrastructure.

We also need parents to bear with us. Much of the traditional school day will have to be foregone for one that is more regimented and coronavirus conscious. For example, conveniences like family carpooling will have to be replaced by staggered and independent drop-off and collection times.

Until there is a vaccine or other effective treatment for the virus, we must learn to live with the disease. That includes continuing to teach and learn, which must be our society’s ultimate priority. Demurring from this will have significant consequences for the learning and development of an entire generation of young people.

While we wait for a coronavirus-secure future, students, and teachers in every school community in this country, on and off school property, must continue to exercise personal responsibility by following Government health and safety guidelines and limiting virus transmission.