Students all class despite call by unions

Most South Australian students returned to the classroom for the start of term two on Monday.

South Australian students Dev Patel and Eliza Wong return to school Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Most South Australian students returned to the classroom for the start of term two on Monday, as families heeded the health advice about school safety and rejected calls from the teaching unions to keep children at home.

In a strong rebuff of the Australian Education Union’s #keepthemhome campaign, govern­ment school attendance was almost 60 per cent, up from 30 per cent in the final weeks of term one, while some non-government schools had up to 95 per cent of students attend campus.

The highly anticipated return, which capped off weeks of uncertainty around how the coronavirus pandemic would affect schooling, is set to be closely monitored by other jurisdictions around the country.

South Australia is the first state to open school doors to more than 270,000 students, with Western Australia to follow later this week.

NSW has opted for a staged return to school from Wednesday, while Queensland delayed its ­decision on whether to fully reopen schools until May 15.

Victoria, however, remains an outlier, refusing to budge on its ­decision for the bulk of students to be educated remotely for the duration of term two.

With South Australia recording its fifth consecutive day of zero new COVID-19 cases, primary and secondary schools were open across the state, except for a few tiny indigenous schools in the APY Lands and a handful in the Barossa Valley, which delayed their opening until Wednesday. SA Education Minister John Gardner said the health advice, from both the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee and state Chief Public Health Officer, professor Nicola Spurrier, was clear: schools were “low risk environments” and should remain open.

“Educational opportunities are an absolute right for our children and our schools are an essential service,” he said.

“As a result of the very low levels of COVID-19 in South Australia, as well as the wider health strategies implemented across the state, many schools are expecting higher attendance rates than anticipated prior to the school holidays.”

Independent schools are anticipating a strong return to school. Association of Independent Schools of South Australia chief executive Carolyn Grantskalns said some schools would have up to 95 per cent of students studying on campus this week.

She said principals were confident they would be able to maintain a safe environment for staff and students.

“They wouldn’t be opening otherwise,” Mrs Grantskalns said. “They’re absolutely committed to the safety of staff and students.”

The AEU said members remained concerned about their health and safety. Its controversial #keepthemhome campaign turned personal last week, when the SA branch was forced to apologise for targeting the respected Professor Spurrier in a social media advertisement.

Fewer than 150 children below 15 years have been infected with COVID-19 in Australia since the pandemic began.

In Victoria, Premier Daniel ­Andrews is under pressure from the opposition to reopen schools, but on Monday denied there was debate on the issue.

“There is no debate on schools: the Chief Health Officer’s clear, the government’s clear and parents are clear,” he said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: SARAH ELKS, REMY VARGA