Submission to JOC on keeping schools ‘open, safe and sustainable’ – we request your input
- Published: 14 October 2020
IPPN has been invited by the Joint Committee on Education, Research, Innovation and Science to make a brief written submission by 21 October on the topic ‘Ensuring that schools are open in a manner which is both safe and sustainable’. They have asked us to focus on the key issues and effective strategies to assist the Committee in examining the issue.
As you will be aware, IPPN has advocated for many years as our top priority for teaching principals to be given the additional leadership and management time they require to carry out their responsibilities as school leaders. Since the COVID-19 mandated closure of schools, we insisted in the strongest possible terms to the DES that additional time must be provided to enable principals cope with all of the additional work required to reopen schools during a global pandemic. The other education partners agreed that this was a key priority.
We also advocated strongly for adequate resourcing of schools to enable them to put in place all of the necessary measures to reopen school buildings and safeguard the health of their pupils and staff. The additional cleaning, PPE and hygiene requisites will need to be fully funded until such time as the virus has been fully contained nationwide or until there is ‘herd immunity’ through an immunisation programme, to allow schools to continue to manage and maintain the high standards of cleanliness that has meant a minimal spread of coronavirus within school buildings.
In our Budget 2021 submission to the Ministers for Education, Finance and Public Expenditure & Reform, IPPN called for the leadership and management time for teaching principals to be placed on a permanent footing, and for the level of resourcing currently in place for schools to maintain cleaning and hygiene to be continued for the duration of the pandemic.
If you have any additional suggestions or strategies that you would like IPPN to raise as part of the submission to the Committee, please email project@ippn.ie by 5.00pm on Friday 16 October.
