There have been calls for the Department of Education to review its decision to force a school in Co Mayo to reopen before Christmas despite concerns regarding Covid-19.
Yesterday, a school in Claremorris announced they would not be opening on Monday for the final full week of classes before the Christmas holidays after a number of pupils in Claremorris Boys National School tested positive for the virus.
The school intended to reopen in the new year as planned on January 6th, with the school principal saying the decision was made so they could be both reactive and proactive.
However, the Department of Education stepped-in to tell the school they could not go ahead with the closure and must reopen as normal on Monday.
A spokesperson for the Department acknowledged the difficulties faced by schools in handling outbreaks of the virus but insisted there was no public health rationale behind altering the agreed standardised school breaks. Schools are due to go on Christmas holidays on Tuesday, December 22nd.
People Before Profit TD Brid Smith has called for the Department's decision to be reversed, saying the school have acted correctly and the Department's decision is wrong.
"The principal said he found it very difficult to get substitute teachers to go into the school because it's known that there is an outbreak of Covid, so to run a school in those circumstances is both dangerous and probably impossible.
"I would support the Board of Management's decision, even though they made it independently. Clearly they should be allowed to have some independence in terms of the safety of their staff and children."
The Department had earlier dismissed a proposal to push forward the holidays by two school days to Friday, December 18th to allow more time for families to limit their contacts if they were going to see vulnerable family members.
Minister for Education Norma Foley reiterated that students had missed enough school time in 2020 due to the closures during the first national lockdown.
