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A second-tier teachers union has said schools should be allowed to close early on Christmas so that students and teachers have more time to restrict their movements before meeting with elderly or vulnerable relatives.
All schools will close on Tuesday, December 22. However, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland has called for “serious consideration” of closing the schools on Friday 18 December.
TUI said such a move would also boost morale.
Yesterday, Education Minister Norma Foley ruled out any extended Christmas break for schools.
Ms. Foley told an Oireachtas committee that her department had no intention at this stage of extending the Christmas break. She said she was working hard to ensure that students didn’t miss any more school time.
However, TUI has said such a closure would be a positive sign of the department’s intention to protect the well-being of school communities.
The union’s general secretary, Michael Gillespie, said the past few months had been “unprecedentedly difficult and exhausting for school communities.”
He said: “Thanks to the remarkable work of the staff, the schools have remained open to all restriction levels, including Level 5. However, stress and anxiety levels remain extremely high as a result of a number of concerns and concerns that they were not imaginable. time last year. “
Mr. Gillespie said that after an extraordinarily intensive period of work, staff and students were much more fatigued than they would be during a “normal” school year. He said a brief extension of the Christmas closing period would be a significant and much-needed boost for morale.
He said it would also potentially allow students and teachers to restrict their movements for a longer period before meeting vulnerable relatives like grandparents, if public health councils at the time allowed such meetings.
“This would be a real and tangible action that could benefit everyone in the school community.
“It could also turn out to be a ‘stitch in time’ measure that helps prevent longer absences due to burnout and burnout later in the school year.”
However, in rejecting such a suggestion at yesterday’s hearing, Minister Foley cited public health advice.
“I am aware of the public health councils that tell us that students are better served when they are in school.”
Under a standardization agreement, all schools are required to close for holidays on Tuesday, December 22. They are due to reopen on January 6.
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