Schools to close again.. Covid

Up slightly on yesterday, but well down on last week. The general trend is downward.

No rise there

Although Covid19 is very prevalent in the community and in our schools I cant see the rationale for closing at the moment.

The numbers in hospital are down by 1/3 since the peak a few weeks back. The booster program is obviously protecting the elderly again so i think we need to keep continuing with in person schooling. We are going to be living alongside this virus for a long time to come. We cant just try and hide from it forever.

Have you any proof of this? Not asking to be smart, just curious!!

I have 2 siblings and many friends who are teachers. On Friday evening when my child could not go on a playdate with the child he sits beside in class, his aunt was at her work Christmas party and his uncle was on a weekend away with his fiancée and their friends.

On Saturday, when he could not go to an indoor play zone, my social media pages were full of my friends in the pub/out for meals/going bowling..

Now tell me who is responsible for the increase in cases in schools?

We have all been asked to reduce our contacts, not just kids. I would suggest cutting contact with your child’s aunt, uncle and any other people you believe are not taking enough precautions for the next two weeks too.

You are attributing far more power to Foley than she has as a relatively politically weak Minister. I mean weak in the sense of only being a late addition to her party's ticket in the last election, scraping home in the last seat, and only being a Minister because FF needed one female. She herself is a minion, rather than someone who has them herself.

Not sure the argument about the Christmas holidays providing "a natural break to enhance the health of the nation" would carry much weight after last year's experience.

But Varadker has saying been saying in recent days that figures are dropping and that even the restrictions already decided upon are hardly necessary. Hard to imagine FG having any such discussion about schools if what he says is taken at face value.

I am a secondary teacher. I started doing this during the week, not out of any inside knowledge, but rather to be prepared just in case of the worst. I'm sure many others are doing likewise.

I find your source very hard to believe. Given the prevailing attitude to schools I can't see them moving towards closures. Doesn't add up.

At the risk of repeating the same comment over and over, it is irrelevant what happens within schools. They will not be closed on the basis of that as it is not acknowledged as being a school-originated issue.

I think there is a real prospect that things will get very out of hand in the community over the next month. In that scenario watch this space.

I suspect that one way or another we too will be in the "clarity and certainty" space regarding exams fairly early in the new year. Even if schools don't close.

Our absenteeism is running at similar levels

A local closure or temporary return to online learning when cases are out of control in a particular school would make more sense.

I'm surprised after the experience of last winter that there is so much blind faith in schools staying open no matter what.

Yeah, but this assumes that the government will be in a position of strength where they can consider all this and have a choice.

Not trying to be smart but your comments sounds more like an idealistic set of arguments why schools shouldn't close rather than a convincing case why it won't happen if the situation with the health service goes out of control.

When the Minister was asked about three weeks ago on the Claire Byrne radio show if she could guarantee that schools would reopen in the new year it was notable that avoided giving any such guarantee that would come back to haunt her.

Instead she gave a "we have a window of opportunity to do the right thing" answer rather than "schools are safe" (as per her answers to Sarah McInerney 12 months ago) or "schools will never close under any circumstances". Maybe schools will not close but I can't understand why people could not see it happening. As things stand now, the status of schools in January is definitely in play.

Many do - but it makes little impact in our place - covid monitors hit the red once windows are closed and children in the class - weather permitting does very little for us - That’s reality rather than staff being foolish or over zealous. Often the perceived simple solution isn’t so simple after all.

That's it in a nutshell.

Teachers will be blamed for getting sick and spreading COVID etc. etc.

Then the issue of lack of subs.

Then talk about why there aren't enough people training to be teachers.

Then it'll be a rant about teacher holidays.

Then it'll lead to a rant about firing the baaaaad lazy teachers.

Then a suggestion about paying the better teachers more when they get higher grades.

Then it'll be a rant about how it wouldn't be tolerated in the private sector.

Norma and her Mandarins know the game all too well.

It's not a case of some schools are totally immune while others are raging infernos.

Absenteeism is running high countrywide and there is a shortage of subs countrywide.

If the numbers accelerate in a similar fashion to last Christmas/New Year then it's only going to end up with one outcome.

Sorry, just wondering what outcome (your last paragraph) you think that will be? Just that you said in the previous post that you thought the government would not close schools. So am wondering what outcome you had in mind "if numbers accelerate like last year".

Not wishing to be argumentative but we don't know the vaccination status of teachers and parents, not to mind underlying conditions. We can make assumptions of course but if you assume a school of a thousand parents and maybe 60 teachers, statistically assuming this cohort to be representative of the population there could be 100 there unvaccinated. And presumably this average would see significant deviation in some areas. Given that school management is not permitted to enquire about the vaccination status of teachers not to mind parents your assumption about vaccination is full of holes.

If course, as I have said in other posts, I think it's all irrelevant to the potential closure of schools. That won't be made for the benefit of teachers or students in any event.