AQW 29117/17-22
Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast
Tabled Date: 02/02/2022
Answered On Date: 09/02/2022
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister of Education what further interventions she plans to make to help prevent teacher and pupil absenteeism as a result of the rise of infection levels of COVID-19.
Answer:
It is anticipated that the levels of positive COVID cases in schools are likely to continue to reflect the levels of cases in the wider community. Measures within a school setting that seek to minimise virus transmission will therefore only have a limited impact upon virus transmission to children and school staff that takes place in the home and/or community setting. It is therefore likely that there will continue to be COVID-based absenteeism among pupils and staff going forward. My Department’s guidance and interventions has been developed to minimise virus transmission in the school setting taking into account the public health advice provided by the Department of Health. No public health advice has been received from the Department of Health recommending additional mitigating measures. My Department’s focus has therefore been on seeking to ensure the effectiveness of the current guidance and recommended mitigating measures in schools. This was referenced by the Chief Medical Officer at the Committee for Health in January 2022 when he stated that “it is really important that there is a doubling down of the baseline mitigations that Northern Ireland schools, DE and EA have maintained in place throughout the pandemic…There is no magic one thing that can be put in place in schools other than a continued focus on all those things that work.” I will continue to rely on the professional advice on COVID mitigations from the Department of Health, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser in terms of any further interventions within educational settings. My officials will continue to liaise with Health officials in relation to any further amendments to guidance or advice.
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