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Education Minister Joe McHugh has said it is too early to say how schools will reopen completely in September due to the need for social distancing.
Schools and universities have been closed since March in an attempt to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
Miniter McHugh told RTE’s The Week In Politics program that he has established an advisory group to examine the issue and the group will work to open schools.
He said: “The advice from NPHET (National Public Health Emergency Team) is that schools will reopen in September, so the question now is how can we do it safely and I think it is too early to say how it will be done. you will see that. But that is the work that we have started and we will continue working through it. ”
In #TWIP to discuss # LeavingCert2020 – a decision made for the right reason and with the best interests of the students in mind. pic.twitter.com/BUtoXjudWE
– Joe McHugh (@McHughJoeTD) May 10, 2020
When asked if the reopening of schools would mean that smaller classes or start times were staggered, he said: “We are trying to give as much clarity as possible and the last thing I want to do in May is to say exactly I like what this will look like. That is why I want to have a proper consultation about it.
“I am going to work with the advisory group that I have established and that work will continue.
“We are going to work with everyone interested and I already started the conversation several weeks ago.
“With many of those interested, whether post-primary or elementary, we will work to open schools.
On Friday it was announced that Leaving Certificate exams will not continue this summer as a result of the pandemic.
Instead, students will have the option to receive grades calculated by their teachers based on their schoolwork.
Students have the option of taking the exam at a later date, but it won’t be in time for when universities open in September.
McHugh dismissed allegations of injustice about the new system, saying that students from all kinds of schools will be treated fairly.
He said:
I want to say categorically that any student, just because they go to a certain school, that they will be marked differently than any other person, it’s just not the case
“There could be a situation where once a principal submits the results from any school, be it a community school, a Deis school, a private school, where the system will analyze some students, maybe over-ticked, some students might be lenient, there will be different evaluations. “
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