Coronavirus: September target for re-opening of schools in North, says Minister

EDUCATION Minister Peter Weir is is “extremely likely” there could be a phased return of schools in the North of Ireland in September at the start of a new educational year.

However, the Minister said he would be criteria led, not date led.

He added that any decision would need to reflect the executive’s wider plans for recovery from the virus.

Speaking on BBC Radio Foyle, he said there were a number of “practical measures” that need to be addressed.

He cited securing PPE for staff, putting social distancing in place to allow school meals and ensuring measures are adhered to on school transport.

Mr Weir had previously said there was “no planned return” for schools and said it would all depend on scientific advice.

On easing the lockdown, the minister said it was important any decision would provide a “clear roadmap for the future”.

He denied suggestions that the executive would be guided solely by the British government’s plans, adding that ministers were only getting “one bite of the cherry” to get their decisions right.

Schools in Northern Ireland have been closed to all but a few pupils since late March due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Earlier in May, the British and Irish Group of Teacher Unions (BIGTU) wrote to Mr Weir setting out what conditions its members believe need to be met in Northern Ireland before schools reopen.

The group includes representatives from four of the five teaching unions in Northern Ireland – the UTU, INTO, NASUWT and NEU.

Earlier this week Michael Allen, principal of Lisneal College in Derry’s Waterside, called for more political direction.

Mr Allen said: “We need some clarity from government, even just a proposal of whether it’s going to be June or October – something needs to be spelt out for us to consult on.

“If the plan is to reopen prior to the end of the current academic year, then we would need some outline of what the science is around that.

“My major concern is that if the government get it wrong and there is a second wave, it could totally disrupt another academic year.

“We are trying to calculate grades for Years 11 to 14 at the moment and if we were to have another lockdown from September to Christmas, for example, that could prove even more challenging for a cohort of pupils who would have two years disrupted.”

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