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The highest-ranking Education Department official has raised big questions about whether schools can reopen in September, the Sunday Independent can reveal.
Secretary General Sean O Foghlu told opposition TDs during a conference call on Friday that there would be significant accommodation challenges in having to operate smaller classes to meet public health guidelines in schools.
Three people on the call said that Mr. O Foghlu was not optimistic about the reopening of the schools in September, as foreseen in the Government’s road map. One suggested that his comments raised the possibility of installing precast in schools across the country to ensure socially distanced classrooms.
The department said decisions about reopening schools would be based on public health counseling, the return-to-work protocol released yesterday and experiences from other countries.
“To assist with the development of contingency plans for the reopening and operation of schools in an environment that may require social distancing and other public health requirements, the department will engage with relevant stakeholders and experts from the education sector,” he said. a spokesman. .
“A central objective of contingency plans will be to ensure that schools and other educational settings are able to reopen and operate safely and consistently with public health counseling.”
Meanwhile, it was learned that Culture Minister Josepha Madigan does not support the controversial “calculated grades” system that will replace the Leaving Cert exam.
At the cabinet meeting last Friday, she highlighted concerns about possible biases by teachers predicting grades and how fair this would be for students. She told her colleagues that she was against the plan, but that if the public health council was that the tests couldn’t be done, she would agree. According to a cabinet source, Madigan said: “‘I cannot support this.’ Those were the words he used.”
A source close to the minister said: “It is fair to say that she was certainly against it and expressed her opinion in the Cabinet.”
Agriculture Minister Michael Creed asked why plans to take the tests in July and August were being scrapped, while the government proposed reopening the schools just a few weeks later. Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan also expressed serious reservations.
Labor TD Aodhan O Riordain called for legal and public health advice to support the decision to be published, saying it had become “political football.”
Fianna Fail education spokesperson Thomas Byrne said the new plan should be backed by laws to protect teachers and allow the State Testing Commission to participate in the grading process.
Independent sunday
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