Will there be access to rapid tests? What isolation rules will apply for students and teachers? How will staff shortages be dealt with? We answer your key questions
The Australian Education Union’s Victorian branch president, Meredith Peace, said free and readily available RATs and access to priority PCR testing in the case of outbreaks were a vital part of any return-to-school strategy.
“I don’t think we have a clear path to return to school without free and ready access to RAT tests across the country for both staff and students,” she said. “We won’t have an effective national plan unless we have effective testing protocols in place.”Students who have tested positive can’t return to school until they have recovered. Students who are the household contact of someone with Covid must follow the standard protocol – meaning they isolate for seven days and can return to school provided they test negative on day six.Teachers and education staff who test positive for Covid are required to stay home until they have recovered.Probably not, but this is for state and territory governments to decide. Classrooms are not listed on the national guidelines for close contacts, meaning the determination lies with the states. NSW and Victoria have suggested they will not require other students to stay home if a classmate tests positive.National cabinet last week added education and childcare workers to the list of essential workers who are no longer required to isolate if they are a close contact – if they have tested negative. State and territory governments have indicated they will follow this edict but we will know more about what schools are doing once they release the national plan. The AEU said it was “very concerned” that asking teachers not to isolate could lead to more infections. “We understand this is a difficult time but we don’t believe the health and safety of teachers should be put at risk in that way,” Peace said. “We are not supportive of the idea and we think it results in greater risk to not just teachers, but to students and families.”NSW has said it may call upon retired teachers and those in their final year of university to cover furloughed teaching staff.Western Australia’s education minister, Sue Ellery, said her department had “more than 5,000 vaccinated casual staff in the system who can fill in where there are vacancies due to illness or otherwise”.The AEU said it would be up to individual schools to manage, but allowing some classes or year levels to switch to remote learning in response to an isolation requirement or a positive case could ease the pressure on teachers. But it said teachers should not be expected to deliver a hybrid teaching model – it must either be fully face-to-face or fully remote.Victoria has provided $60m in funding for schools to erect shade sails and create other areas that could be used for outdoor classrooms in government-funded and low-fee private schools. They say they will also have installed 51,000 air filters in schools by the start of term. Tasmania has also installed air filters in government schools. NSW said in October 2021 that the education department had bought 19,000 air purifiers, but they would only be distributed in air quality emergencies – such as bushfires over the summer. It’s focusing on “natural ventilation”. South Australia says doors and windows are to be left open to encourage ventilation and outdoor learning is “encouraged where appropriate”.Will students be required to wear masks?. In NSW, masks must be worn indoors by anyone aged 12 and over., unless exemptions apply. In South Australia, face masks are required for students in year 7 and higher, and strongly encouraged for students in grades three to six.
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