North Wales MS Mark Isherwood yesterday called on the Welsh Education Minister to respond to a number of concerns flagged up by school staff across North Wales on behalf of themselves or colleagues elsewhere in Wales since the reopening of schools earlier this month.
Responding to the Education Minister’s Statement in the Welsh Parliament yesterday on ‘Reopening Schools’, Mr Isherwood highlighted the various concerns relating to Covid-19 measures that teachers and other school staff across the region have raised with him over the last few weeks, including worries that social distancing is being ignored and that teaching staff are having to clean their own classrooms.
Urging Kirsty Williams to respond, he said:
“How do you respond to concerns raised with me by School Staff: that Social distancing is being ignored, or is impossible for pupils whose school requires them to move between classrooms; that the breadth and standard of online teaching has been variable, asking ‘has Wales invested in further development of online teaching and resources in preparation for a possible second wave?’; that a Primary Sector teacher was ‘hauled over the coals’ for using up too much paper in her classroom during hand washing sessions and told to encourage pupils to ‘air dry’ their hands. We all know how dangerous this is; that in some authorities the teaching staff are having to clean their own classrooms, with cleaners only coming in to provide one weekly deep clean - creating additional health risks and increasing their stress levels; and that “Kirsty Williams says the Headteacher is best placed to advise - but they are not medical practitioners or scientists and even they have got it wrong. We need robust, enforceable, advice”.”
In her response, the Minister was dismissive of the concerns raised and insisted that everything is working well.
She told Mr Isherwood that the resources for digital learning in Wales “are unique resources that are simply not available on this scale, free of charge, anywhere else in the United Kingdom.”
She also insisted that there is no reason why cleaning should be skimped on as “ahead of the summer term, out of the education budget, we made over £1 million available, up front, for local authorities to buy additional cleaning material. My colleague the Minister for local government has made available, I believe it is £29 million, which local authorities can draw down for the additional costs of cleaning in their schools.”
She added: “With regard to moving children around schools, many schools are choosing to limit movements around schools, If that teacher is saying that those provisions haven't been put in place in their school then that conversation needs to be had with the headteacher, doesn't it, about how that school is organising itself?”
Speaking afterwards, Mr Isherwood said:
“The concerns I raised with the Minister are genuine issues that those who are in schools on a daily basis are raising with me. They know what is and isn’t working. Instead of giving a Pontius Pilate reply, the Minister should be investigating these concerns and working towards addressing them.”
ENDS