BY NOW most of us will have realised that our worlds did not dramatically change with the chiming of the clock at midnight on New Year's Eve. By now, we know that we have a tough road ahead of us before this virus is finally quashed.
Those of us with school age children know of those challenges. While we are being told that it is dangerous to gather in large numbers, we are sending our children to school to mix with at least 30 other bubbles. While we are told that we must wear masks, socially distance and wash our hands religiously to keep ourselves safe, most of these precautions are impossible to sustain during the school day, exposing our children to infection and our families to risk. I would say most of us know children who have contracted Covid-19, and indeed teachers who have come down with the illness that has killed almost two million people worldwide.
At the weekend, Boris Johnson said there was "no doubt in my mind that schools are safe" as he encouraged parents to send their children back into the classroom. Mr Johnson told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that the risk to children was "very, very low" and the benefit of education was "so huge".
But the fact of the matter is that while other industries have adapted to the virus and moved to protect those who drive it, our children are being forgotten and our teachers seem to have been left to get on with things in environments that are not safe.
Of course, our front line workers should be protected, they are working directly at the coalface and bravely face danger from this virus every single day. It is right that they are equipped with adequate PPE to keep them from harm. Our retail workers are able to be masked and behind glass or plastic to protect them from the public. Our taxi and bus drivers are also able to protect themselves with perspex and masks.
Our teachers, meanwhile, are the only people allowed in a room of at least 30 unmasked individuals – who all come from their own household and social bubbles, some from crowded buses – with no perspex or protections. Some wear masks, but with 30 other people in the room without, risk of infection is high.
Yet they have turned up every day and taught our children through this pandemic. They are front line workers and deserve to be treated with respect and care. They are not immune from this virus just because they are in the magical domain of a classroom. Quite the opposite.
I was glad to see that all post-primary pupils will be taught remotely during the first week of January. From Monday January 11, pupils in years eight to 11 will continue to be taught remotely until the end of January, while pupils in years 12 to 14 will attend school for face-to-face teaching.
However, this still means hundreds of pupils attending school in what is shaping up to be the worst period of this pandemic.
This weekend, thousands of young pupils will sit the Transfer Test, which should have been cancelled. Next week, thousands more will sit their Maths and English GCSEs, which also should have been cancelled. Dithering has got us nowhere except into an impossible scenario that will see parents go against everything they hold dear and anxiously send their children into dangerous environments for the sake of qualifications.
Since March, many of our kids have endured a stop/start aspect to education. Many of them have been in self-isolation, many have been sick, all of them have been stressed. It has been said time and time again that this is not a level playing field. But it seems no one is listening.
The pandemic has been raging since March, our politicians have had plenty of time to put measures in place that will keep teachers and students safe, ensure uptake of online learning, tackle exam issues, ensure protection of vulnerable children for whom school is a sanctuary.
These are not ordinary times and we need extraordinary measures to keep everyone safe. A wait and see approach has not served us well so far.
