School camps desperate for certainty as they lose thousands

School camp facilities are resembling empty resorts and losing thousands of dollars every month, and there is still no word on when they can reopen.

Queensland Conference and Camping Centre instructor Caleb Grant with a student about to complete the Mapleton Leap.

SCHOOL camp facilities are resembling empty resorts and losing thousands of dollars every month, and there is still no word on when they can reopen.

Queensland Conference and Camping Centres' Mapleton and Noosa sites are ready for school groups to return after spending recent months changing procedures to ensure they were COVID-19 safe.

But despite students returning to school this week, and many restrictions easing by Term 3, school camps and excursions are still off the table for the foreseeable future.

Director Andrew Grant said they were not alone, with the Coast having more than 2000 beds for school camps, and the sector employing about 1000 people.

"We've just come through social isolation and a period of online learning so I think camp is more important now than ever," Mr Grant said.

Queensland Conference and Camping Centre director Andrew Grant wants certainty around when school camps can resume.

 

He said by late-May they would usually be organising camps for Term 1. The State Government is yet to give directions on when school camps can resume, and what restrictions could be placed on them.

"It's like having a resort that you can't open," Mr Grant said.

"While we're shut we're going backwards by about $100,000 a month.

"I understand it's really difficult for our leaders who have so many decisions to make right now … but as an industry we do need certainty."

Education Minister Grace Grace said Queensland school camps and excursions had been cancelled for the safety of staff and students. She said there were no plans for this to change for the remainder of term 2, unless advice from the Chief Health Officer changed.

The Mapleton site has 300 beds, and staff are working on measures to ensure social distancing when they can reopen.

Many of the 125 employees at the two sites are receiving JobKeeper, and workers who were ineligible had to be let go.