Sir, – There is growing concern in schools that teaching staff are being asked to enter an unsafe environment on a daily basis. To my knowledge there are few working groups who are being asked to walk into an unvaccinated body of people in a close contact situation every day without the necessary protections.
Quite rightly frontline medical personnel have been prioritised for vaccines and boosters and have more rigorous testing. Teachers are looking for the same level of protection. If schools are expected to provide normal service, teaching staff must have some assurances over time-frames for booster shots and access to antigen testing.
During last year’s lockdown, when Minister for Education Norma Foley and the public realised how important it was to reopen schools, teaching staff were initially prioritised for vaccination and when schools reopened, they conveniently dropped from five to 13 in the prioritisation rating.
The Minister in her failure to acknowledge the substitute crisis and in her failure to react to calls for booster shots has shown how out of touch she is with the realities of regular school life. Schools can only operate effectively and successfully with a motivated and enthusiastic staff who are not burdened by the fear of contracting a debilitating virus. We are constantly hearing from the Government that schools are safe places.
Schools are only as healthy and safe as the wider school community, which is far from safe. School practices and protocols may be good but this is not enough.
In order to keep schools open, some value and respect should be afforded to the school staff and prioritisation for vaccine boosters would be a good start. – Yours, etc,
AIDAN BOYLE,
Principal,
Scoil Cholmcille Senior,
Ballybrack, Co Dublin.