Coronavirus Australia: Seven national principles agreed to for schools

The National Cabinet has agreed to seven COVID-19 principles regarding schools which the Prime Minister says are a “clear objective of where we seek to get to”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a list of seven principles agreed to by the National Cabinet on Thursday in relation to schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, which come with an “aspiration attached”.

“The health advice has been consistent that for children, schools are a safe space,” he said this afternoon.

Mr Morrison said there were “very helpful instructions and advice from the medical expert panel for schools” that dealt principally with the safety of teachers and other staff.

The list includes a commitment to the delivery of “high quality education”, that state and territory governments and non-government school systems are responsible for operational decisions, and that responses would be “informed by expert, official, national and state-based public health and education advice”.

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there is aspiration attached to the list of seven principles. Picture: Gary Ramage

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He said there will understandably be “some variation” due to the differing term structures across the states and territories.

“I think what you see with these principles is an understanding that of course, face-to-face learning in a classroom on campus is the best way to deliver education, that is an obvious statement,” Mr Morrison said.

“But at times like this the alternative models are being used, principally to protect the safety of teachers in this environment, and so these models will be used for a time, but, ultimately … we would like to get back to that other arrangement.”

When the suggestion was raised that the principles were “polly waffle” and “clear as mud”, Mr Morrison defended them as a “clear objective of where we seek to get to”.

He said issues raised by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews such as interaction between parents on school drop-off and pick-up when potential infection could occur can be “accommodated and addressed”.

“I want my kids to go back to school and be taught in a classroom by a teacher,” the Prime Minister said.

A school in Sydney this week. Picture: Joel Carrett/AAP

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Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy said teachers can reduce the risk of infection by decreasing the size of groups, good hygiene and social distancing between staff and other adults and students.

“We have recommended older teachers and teachers with chronic disease not work in the classroom,” he said, noting “a range of measures” will be released on Thursday night focused on “how to make a school safer”.

SEVEN NATIONAL PRINCIPLES

1. Our schools are critical to the delivery of high quality education for students and to give our children the best possible start in life. Our education systems are based on the recognition that education is best delivered by professional teachers to students in the classroom on a school campus.

2. It is accepted that during the COVID-19 crisis, alternative flexible, remote delivery of education services may be needed.

3. Our schools must be healthy and safe environments for students, teachers and other staff to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of education to students.

4. State and Territory Governments and non-government sector authorities are responsible for managing and making operational decisions for their schools systems respectively, subject to compliance with relevant funding agreements with the Commonwealth.

5. Decisions regarding the response to COVID-19 in the schooling sector must continue to be informed by expert, official, national and state-based public health and education advice, consistent with these national principles.

6. All students must continue to be supported by their school to ensure participation in quality education during the COVID-19 crisis.

7. The health advice consistently provided by the AHPPC (Australian Health Protection Principal Committee) is that attendance at a school campus for education represents a very low health risk to students. The advice also notes that appropriate practices must be employed at schools, like at other workplaces, to provide a safe working environment for school staff, including teachers, and that the specific AHPPC advice regarding school campuses should be followed.