The prolonged closure of Irish schools was one of the biggest policy failures of the pandemic. Children in the Republic missed out on more class-time than most of their European counterparts, and while it will take time to assess the damage that caused, there is already plenty of evidence of a real long-term impact. Worst affected were those the State should have done most to protect: children with special needs and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The impact on mental health and child development was even more widely felt.
That failure – one for which the State and its citizens will be paying long after the pandemic has ended – is why it is so important to ensure that schools can reopen safely tomorrow. School managers and teacher unions are absolutely correct that schools have too often seemed like an afterthought in Covid-19 mitigation planning.
The mantra that classrooms are a safe environment, repeated constantly by Government ministers, has often sounded less like an attempt at reassurance than an excuse for not doing more. It took far too long to provide funding for mechanical air filtration systems; many schools still do not have enough of them.
Hospital Report
The scaling back of contact tracing fed into a wider sense among principals that they had been left to their own devices, without adequate guidance on what they should do when cases arose in their institutions. That schools have managed to stay open since last summer is a credit to their staff.
Each situation ought to be dealt with on a school-by-school basis and no effort should be spared in ensuring that the school gates open
But they need more help. Why, as we approach the third year of a pandemic caused by an airborne virus, are principals still waiting for adequate air filtration units? Why, instead of posting individual antigen tests to the families of close-contact children, is the Government not sending large stocks to schools directly so that cases can be caught quickly? Why is there so little data available on exactly how the virus is behaving in school settings? Why are schools not receiving deliveries of high-grade face masks for their staff?
Steps such as these would go a long way to reassuring children, parents and staff. As Ombudsman for Children Dr Niall Muldoon has said, closures (or "delayed reopenings"), given the damage we know they cause, should be a measure of last resort. Certainly they should not currently be on the agenda, at a time when shops and pubs are open and when there is increasing evidence that Omicron is causing less severe disease than previous Covid-19 variants.
If public health advice changes, or the course of the pandemic deteriorates, that can be reviewed. But for now, each situation ought to be dealt with on a school-by-school basis and no effort should be spared in ensuring that the school gates open – and stay open for the rest of the year.