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Teachers told not to contact pupils about home schooling

The INTO has shared comprehensive advice with members
The INTO has shared comprehensive advice with members The INTO has shared comprehensive advice with members

TEACHERS are being advised to avoid contacting pupils who appear to be switching off from online learning.

Guidance published by the INTO union said the only exception should be young people facing penalties in terms of exams if they fail to engage.

The union has shared comprehensive advice with members on working from home.

Many teachers are in schools supervising the key workers' children.

Others are offering online learning so pupils can continue their studies at home.

The INTO guidance told members to "do as much or as little as you and your family can cope with".

It said the parent/carer of pupils remained their primary educator.

The advice added that "this is not home schooling; this is an emergency situation where none of us have had any time to effectively plan or prepare".

Much of the guidance concerned communications, ICT and online lessons.

Communications with families, the union said, should take place only where absolutely necessary and "should be sensitive to and mindful of the wider context of the global pandemic we are in the midst of".

Pupil access to work which teachers have prepared and sent home either as hard copies or electronically would vary from home to home and postcode to postcode, it added.

Broadband speed, sophistication of available hardware, numbers of appropriate ICT devices, workspace and other necessary facilities in households would need to be considered.

"Schools should ensure parents and pupils are made aware that it is unreasonable to expect replies outside of normal working hours and to be mindful of the time it may take teachers to reply to all parents/carers and pupils," the union said.

"Schools should not ask staff to contact pupils who appear not to be engaging with online activities, with the exception of those who may be penalised in terms of examinations if they do not engage."

The union told The Irish News that it was faced with the unprecedented mobilisation of teachers to work from home, and its advice was designed to protect members and their pupils.

While it might change, it has currently requested that schools refrain from asking teachers to contact pupils who appear not to be engaging for a myriad of understandable and sensible reasons.

It is feared that spending time telephoning pupils has the potential to detract from the time that teachers have to remotely engage with classes.

This additional workload could prevent staff from fully carrying out the tasks to the required standards.