New Minister for Education Norma Foley has said masks will be mandatory in secondary schools but she won’t force any schools to implement the ban.
But she failed to address the issue of schools who will be forced to abandon plans for social distancing because they don’t have enough space to put children in separate spaces.The Minister was presented with the example of St Leo’s in Carlow, which opened yesterday and had 150 kids in one room.Teachers, parents and students have flooded public forums all week crying out for clearer direction on how to handle potential outbreaks in schools this coming term.
Ms Foley would not commit to abandoning the calculated grades system, despite the disasters that have unfolded in the UK with the same systems.