Coronavirus QLD: Parents send kids to school due to work commitments
Parents across Queensland are facing harrowing choices about the safety of their children as work commitments force them to send their kids to school during the coronavirus pandemic.
QLD News
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QUEENSLAND parents have been left with heavy hearts after dropping their children off to school this morning, torn between having to be at work and trying to keep their kids and families safe.
While all of the state’s schools this week have pupil free days so teachers can prepare for remote learning, any parent who is required to be at their workplace can still send their children to school.
The rapidly evolving coronavirus pandemic and the strict restrictions of social distancing has meant mother and Allied Health clinic owner Dana Vukovic has no choice but to send her son Lex, 5 to Sunnybank Primary School.
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“I’m a physiotherapist and we’ve been directed to stay open and my husband’ a bus driver, so he’s an essential service as well,” Ms Vukovic said.
“My mother is 75, so I’m not willing to drop him there, she’s in isolation, he can’t go there which is where he normally would when he’s not with us.”
She said it was hard to leave her son behind, and thinking about it could nearly reduce her to tears.
“I’ve had to keep informed, I’ve taken the advice, followed the facts and science, obviously I’m concerned about my son’s welfare and the welfare of my family – particularly my mother.
“I’m confident me and my husband can keep ourselves safe, and I know there’s not going to be a lot of kids here today ... I know teachers will be keeping them safe.
“He might not be here for the whole day. If I can arrange for him not to be here for the rest of the day, if I can, I don’t think he will be here every day this week.”
Today, Ms Vukovic said about 15 children were at the school with the group halved and supervised by two teachers to ensure they would be able to adhere to strict social distancing and hygiene measures.
“I’m not expecting him to be able to go to school next term but that’s a bridge we’ll have to cross when we come to it,” she said.
“Juggling an allied health business and homeschooling him is going to be tough but something we’re going to have to do.”
Originally published as Coronavirus QLD: Parents send kids to school due to work commitments
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