States muddle students’ return

The jumble of messages from the education sector is worrying parents as their children gear up for term two, which is under way in some states and about to start in others. The advice from Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy and the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee has been consistent from the outset of the coronavirus pandemic; that is, schools should be open and have strict social-distancing measures in place. It was understandable, when caseload numbers were rising towards the end of term one, why most parents opted to keep their children at home. After the respite of Easter holidays, getting children back to school is an important step towards reopening the economy, as Scott Morrison said on Thursday.

Despite good leadership in containing the virus, the national cabinet has failed to find a uniform approach on the return to school. Families in some states can only wonder about the ideas being proposed. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says students will make a staggered return to classrooms from May 11, starting with one day a week. As parents scramble to readjust their work schedules they may wonder why just one day. Queensland, where the term has started, is in a muddle with the Education Department and the state teachers union offering conflicting advice. The Palaszczuk government reasonably cites the AHPCC advice, which encourages students to maintain a 1.5m distance when entering or leaving classrooms and for classroom furniture to be arranged with as much space as possible between students. The Queensland Teachers Union, however, insists classes with more than 12 pupils are unacceptable, with even fewer students in smaller classrooms. The union’s promise to down tools if its provisos are not met is unhelpful.

At Perth’s Hale School for boys, one of the first schools to switch to online learning when the COVID-19 crisis erupted, headmaster Dean Dell’Oro has sent out a clear, practical and detailed plan that covers many of the issues concerning parents. In a staggered start from next Wednesday, the school’s priority will be for years 11 and 12 students to start first. Pre-primary to Year 2 pupils also will start that day, as will students with special needs and those whose parents work in the health sector. Changes to maintain physical distancing during class and lunch are clear. Bringing the senior students back first makes good sense. They are more mature to cope with the necessary changes, and they are in the most critical phase of their studies.

Victorian Education Minister James Merlino overreacted on Thursday when he blasted the Fitzroy Community School in Melbourne’s inner north as “reckless” for planning to return to face-to-face teaching next week. But with COVID-19 testing being ramped up and the number of new cases plummeting, even Victorian health authorities, who have been ultra-cautious in insisting on remote learning for all of term two, appear to be opening the door to getting students back in earlier. In the current predicament, where leadership and compliance have put us in an enviable position, choice and common sense are vital. Children appear to be largely unaffected by COVID-19 but could be asymptomatic “silent spreaders”. It would make sense if the families of children who live with grandparents or adults with compromised immune systems decided to concentrate on online learning at home for now. Teachers unions’ concerns for their members health and wellbeing are also reasonable. Allowances need to be made for vulnerable and older teachers to concentrate on duties outside busy classrooms.

After so long in hibernation, it is understandable that parents are anxious about risking their children catching the coronavirus at school and putting them back on to public transport. It makes sense to hasten slowly. And schools need good plans in place. But as the Prime Minister says, reopening schools is an important step in the nation’s recovery and in moving people off JobKeeper and JobSeeker. It is also important, as he says, in ensuring children receive the best education. Reopening schools will be a significant step in the return to normal. It needs to be done right.