Social Democrats TD for Dublin Central, Gary Gannon, has called on the Minister for Education and officials from her department to appear before the Oireachtas Special Covid-19 Committee to provide a progress report on the Government’s plan to reopen schools at the end of this month.
Deputy Gannon, who is the party’s spokesperson on Education, said:
“I have today written to the chairman of the Covid-19 Committee, Deputy Michael McNamara, requesting that he invite Minister Norma Foley and representatives from the Department of Education and Skills to come before the committee and give an update on how the plan for the reopening of schools is progressing.
“The Minister’s presentation should include an update on the recruitment of extra teachers, guidance counsellors and non-teaching staff. In addition, we need a progress report on how schools throughout the country are implementing the structural changes required to aid social distancing measures.
“Minister Foley should also use the opportunity to explain how our system of calculated grades for the Leaving Certificate differs to that of Scotland, which – before yesterday’s u-turn – saw disproportionate numbers of students from disadvantaged areas having their teachers’ assessments downgraded.
“It is now two weeks since the Government announced its €375m roadmap for the reopening of our schools. Given the extremely tight timeframe for implementing all the necessary measures and rising concerns about Covid-19 clusters in three counties, it is incumbent on the Minister to provide reassurance that the plan to safely reopen schools is still on track.”
August 12, 2020