Two weeks before the 2022 school year is set to commence, parents are still in the dark about how the first term will look and what steps will be taken to ensure schools provide a safe environment for students and teachers.
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With the Omicron variant of COVID-19 cutting a swathe through NSW, bringing record cases and deaths, attention has turned to the 2022 school year.
Both the Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet have insisted schools in NSW will return on time, with face-to-face learning from day one.
Mr Morrison said he wanted teachers and students back inside classrooms from the start of the school year and "the health advice is they can go back".
He said each state and territory was now tasked with coming up with detailed operational plans for how schools would function. This includes advice around mask-wearing and rapid antigen testing.
According to an update on the NSW Government Department of Education website dated January 7, 2022, "term 1 settings for 2022 are under development with NSW Health and will be shared with families and students in late January".
The Mercury asked the NSW Department of Education for an update on when the plan would be made public.
A spokeswoman said: "I cannot give you a date/day for the release of the plan. It is being worked on and will be released shortly".
State MP for Keira Ryan Park said the lack of a plan for the safe return to school was causing stress and anxiety for parents and teaching staff in the Illawarra.
"We all want schools to go back but there has to be a plan to do that safely and effectively," he said.
Mr Park said it was not fair on parents or teachers that the state government is yet to release its plan for a safe return to school.
"I have got no idea how the government is going to ensure a safe return to school because they haven't released a plan," he said. "Parents want to know how this is going to be done."
At a press conference last Thursday after a meeting of National Cabinet, Mr Morrison said it was "absolutely essential for schools to go back" in a bid to address workforce absenteeism, and that education workers and childcare staff will be among those to be exempt from strict isolation rules in a bid to keep schools open..
"If schools don't open that can add an additional 5 per cent to the absenteeism in the workforce," he said, adding schools needed to go back safely and remain open "if we are not to see any further exacerbation of the workforce challenges we are currently facing".
"Schools open means shops open, schools open means hospitals are open. It means aged care facilities are open. It means essential services and groceries are on the shelves," he said.
"That's what schools opens means and it's very important they go back.
"Childcare and schools are essential and should be first to open and the last to close wherever possible, with face-to-face learning prioritised."
The NSW Teachers Federation provided a COVID update on January 14 which said the current wave of COVID cases was causing "considerable concern".
It said the federation had sought formal meetings with senior officials from the NSW Department of Education the previous week "to review and accordingly seek the implementation of enhanced risk mitigation strategies to ensure the safest possible conditions for the return to schools".
It said of particular concerns were the issues of vaccinating children before the return to school; providing schools with rapid antigen tests to help with the "mitigation of risk"; ventilation and air quality; and masks and requirements for their use.
"In particular, the need for governments to deal expeditiously and effectively with matters relating to the problems that have emerged during the vaccination rollouts for five to 11-year-old children; the stalled rollout of vaccinations for 12 to 15-year-old's; and timely access to boosters for all teachers," it said.
"Further, the federation is pursuing the development of effective plans to deal with inevitable absenteeism due to infection rates, noting the experience of the UK and the USA where return to schools was either delayed or schools have effectively become non-operational," adding it was also pursuing "enhancements in leave provisions for all teachers, including those employed on a casual basis".
It said further meetings are scheduled to take place in coming days.
The Mercury has contacted the Illawarra branch of the NSW Teachers Federation for comment.
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Merryn Porter
Journalist with more than 25 years' experience in print and digital media who has covered most news rounds, including health, education, politics (local, state and federal), police and courts, with a special interest in women's and family matters. Highly-skilled interviewer and storyteller.
Journalist with more than 25 years' experience in print and digital media who has covered most news rounds, including health, education, politics (local, state and federal), police and courts, with a special interest in women's and family matters. Highly-skilled interviewer and storyteller.
