Rose Conway-Walsh demands clarity on school Covid measures
Rose Conway-Walsh spoke on 24 Nov 2021 about Covid measures in education settings, welcoming an announcement on substitute teachers but insisting on immediate, specific timings and practical detail. She called for classroom air filters, a defined HSE role in contact tracing, clear antigen test arrangements, reversal of the removal of banked special education hours, and better treatment of third-level students.
Substitute teachers and timing clarity
She welcomed the minister's announcement on substitute teachers but said teachers, parents, students and staff need to know exact timings. She asked whether substitutes will be available immediately and criticised vague announcements that leave frontline staff unsure; she noted ASDI has also been calling for clarity.
Air quality and classroom filters
She urged the government to provide HEPA or standard filters for every classroom and congregating space, arguing it is better to be safe than sorry. She framed this as an investment in clean air that supports teachers' ability to teach and pupils' ability to learn without fear.
Contact tracing and antigen testing
She demanded a clearly defined role for the HSE in contact tracing in primary schools, calling the September changes the wrong approach. She also asked for urgent clarity on how antigen tests will be distributed and whether schools will face delays in receiving them.
Special education hours and the banking system
She urged the minister to reverse the decision to remove banked special education hours, warning that special education hours will continue to be lost without the banking system. She said children with special educational needs suffered most during lockdown and that safeguarding those hours must be addressed.
Third-level students and clearer communication
She highlighted that third-level students have had a rough ride in the pandemic and are not prioritised for return to in-person teaching like younger pupils. She called for quick, decisive action and clear government communication so students, staff and businesses can plan with confidence.
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Minister, I would like to raise the issue of Covid measures specifically in education settings and firstly I do want to welcome Minister Foley's announcement regarding substitute teachers but we are 16 school days away from Christmas when schools will be breaking up anyway so we need to know the timings we need to know the timings in terms of substitute teachers can teachers expect those substitute teachers to be there from Monday of next week we need the specifics there's too many vague announcements that don't get to where the people are on the front line like the teachers and the staff involved parents students and staff will appreciate the long-waited recognition of the crisis that they have been battling for weeks now but more clarity is needed as I said more clarity is also needed for the secondary schools on how this will work in practice for them and I know the ASDI have been calling for that clarity as well but people shouldn't continuously have to call for clarity they should be given clear timely messages it seems to take some kind of mental gymnastics to accept a crisis with substitute teachers caused by teachers being out sick and not accept that Covid transmission is a reality in the school setting you see things don't add up for people that's the problem Minister and that's why you're losing so many people and it's absolutely vital that you don't lose that social solidarity across the nation so that people are always willing to play their part but they need to see government communicating clearly with them and playing their part as well and that hasn't been the case here to for in fact it seems like when decisions are finally made then the government stopped to slap themselves on the back and to say well everything is grand didn't we do a great job with this but we need timely decisions like the procrastination is killing people business people even today and business people even today in retail and in publicans who tell me we just want to know we want to know we don't want to be taken on staff we don't want to be bringing in orders we want clarity around what's happening so if you have information Minister you need to communicate it to people and help them to make sense of things people will do anything that makes sense to them but a lot of the things unfortunately don't what's really helps to make sense of the difference is that we have some wonderful people in the future of our programs have heard of partners and staff given how much responsibility they are asked to take on and the government needs to do a number of steps for this firstly you need to look at providing the help of standard filters for every classroom or room or room or children are congregating it's better to be safe than sorry and if you're investing in these Minister they are going to hopefully we will come out the other side of COVID at some stage In a Covid pandemic, it is vital to maintaining health and wellbeing. How can teachers be expected to teach and children expected to learn if they are fearful of the environment they work in? These would be an investment in schools to bring clean air, regardless of a pandemic, to have clean air within schools. Secondly, the HSE should be given a clearly defined role in contact tracing in the primary school setting. That absolutely has to be done. The changes that were made in September were the wrong changes. Absolutely things need to be addressed, but we cannot continue on the way they are without the HSE having a clearly defined role there. They need to know how the antigen tests will work. How will they be distributed? Are they going to be waiting for days for antigen tests? All of these things could be cleared up in a few hours. Thirdly, you need to reverse the decision or the Minister needs to reverse the decision to remove banked special education hours. Special education hours have been and will continue to be lost without the banking system being brought back in. Children with special educational needs were amongst the biggest losers of the lockdown. Indeed, the Minister launched the class programme in recognition of the impact that lockdown had on their learning development. Yet, in the same breath, she is not allowing schools to safeguard special education teaching hours. That really needs to be addressed. I would strongly urge the Government to look at these three points. We have always tried to work constructively on these vitally important issues and we will continue to do so, Minister. Around third-level students who have had a very rough ride throughout COVID-19, they are not prioritised for a return to in-person teaching in the same way as primary and post-primary. Those who are fearful about sitting in a hall to do exams must be listened to as well. We must just put these things in place. We must do it quickly, we must do it decisively and we must communicate clearly. Thank you.
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