Pupils pay heavy price for pandemic disruption

Primary school students have fallen behind in their education as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a local teachers’ representative.

Tommy Greally, INTO Chief Executive Committee member for Galway and Roscommon, said teachers in the region were noticing a decline in educational development since returning from extended school closures.

“From going to meetings with local teachers, we have noticed that in the first, second and third class groups in Galway and Roscommon, there is a drop in standard and they are requiring extra help.

“Thankfully, we have had extra supports from the Department [of Education] and they are being focused on that extra help, but even junior infants teachers can see that because creches were locked down, the children are a little behind where they normally would be,” said Mr Greally.

“There is just a general sense that it has had a negative effect.”

It was for this reason that nobody – teachers, students nor their parents – wanted to return to online learning.

“It’s so important that we keep the schools open and most teachers agree,” said Mr Greally.

However, there were measures that could be taken to make schools a safer environment, he said – particularly when it came to testing and tracing which was abandoned in late September.

“Contact tracing has to come back, to give confidence to everybody. If I find out one of my pupils has Covid, I contact the parents of the other children in the pod and they can take antigen tests, but they don’t have to if they don’t want to.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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