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Covid-19 Pandemic

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 December 2021

Thursday, 16 December 2021

Questions (418)

Brendan Griffin

Question:

418. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education if she has a contingency plan for the return of schools in January 2022 in the event of continued high Covid-19 rates amongst those under 18 years of age; if so, the details of such plans; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62915/21]

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Written answers

The approach to supporting schools to operate safely during Covid-19 has been to follow and implement public health advice.  The infection prevention and control measures in place in schools have worked very effectively to prevent and control Covid-19 in schools.  The Department will continue to work closely with public health officials and the education stakeholders in respect of the safe operation of schools during Covid-19.

As a contingency measure, the Department has already provided a suite of guidance materials, agreed with the education partners, to enable schools to facilitate the continuity of learning should a school be required to close due to public health advice. These are available at www.gov.ie/backtoschool. This documentation has been complemented by Circular 0074/2020  (Communication/Teaching & Learning Platform) which requires all schools to have  in place appropriate contingency measures to ensure that they are prepared to continue to support teaching and learning in the event of a partial or full closure of schools arising from Public Health advice.

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