Onus on schools to trace virus contacts – Peter Weir

THE Education Minister rejected concerns from the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) that schools with positive cases of coronavirus are not receiving enough support.

INTO said the stress that school leaders were managing following a positive case in their school ‘is not sustainable’.

They also urged the Public Health Agency (PHA) must take a more proactive and responsive role in track and tracing and in the support they offer.
However, speaking to the UH during a visit to Omagh yesterday (Wednesday), Education Minister, Peter Weir, said the onus should remain on schools to identify close contacts in the event of someone testing positive for the virus.

He added that that it would be difficult for an outside organisation to carry out this role. “All of us are having to cope with a very difficult situation and it is very difficult for anyone to come in from outside to identify close contacts of an individual within a school and whether an accurate answer could be obtained,” he said.

“It (the INTO criticism) would be more valid if cases were only happening in schools. But this is happening across society and I think all of us are left in a situation which is not our first choice and all of us must play our part in trying to respond to the crisis.

“There is very clear guidance for schools to follow when there is a positive case.

“The health authorities have indicated that they want schools to identify who the close contacts are and then relay that information to the PHA. But we are all trying to deal with an imperfect situation.”

Mr Weir said the Department of Education is continuing to review the best practice around students wearing masks in communal areas of their schools, such as corridors, and stressed that a lot of good work had been done to ensure schools were able to return safely after the Halloween break.

Minister Weir also said he hoped there won’t be any further school closures and his priority is to “protecting education” during the pandemic.

“I certainly hope that there won’t be any further school closures and I don’t see a trade off being hospitality and education. I see schools functioning as fully as possible,” he added.