Scott Morrison takes a swipe at whingeing teachers’ unions complaining about going back to class

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has lashed out at teachers’ unions protesting the return to classrooms. 

Mr Morrison has urged states to urgently reopen schools on advice from Australia’s top health adviser – saying that students do not pose a risk of spreading coronavirus. 

But Mr Morrison’s insistence that classrooms are safe has drawn mixed reactions, with some unions threatening to stand firm against returning to normal operations.

In some states, teachers’ unions have continued to urge families not to send children to school. 

‘I mean, we’ve got people who are going to work in supermarkets every day,’ Mr Morrison told Sky News. 

‘We’ve got people who are doing jobs all over the community, driving buses, and they’re doing great work and they’re turning up to work to do those things.’

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has slammed teachers’ unions protesting the return to classrooms

Mr Morrison said the risk for teachers was ‘not in the classroom; their risk is in the staffroom’.

There is mounting evidence to back the medical advice that children are less prone to catching and spreading COVID-19.

Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said NSW Health has done a large study including testing children with no virus symptoms and found no evidence they were transmitting the disease.

‘This is quite different from influenza, where we know they are sometimes super-spreaders and can spread the virus,’ he told reporters on Friday.

‘Most children who have contracted the virus in Australia have contracted it in the family home … not contracted it in the school environment.’ 

The health advice says appropriate workplace safety measures should be taken to protect teachers, including cleaning door handles, desks, computers, hand-rails and playground equipment several times a day.

The advice also says classroom furniture should leave as much space between students as possible and children should be encouraged to keep 1.5m apart from others when entering classrooms or during break times. 

Teachers have been told to keep 1.5m apart from each other in staff rooms, but Scott Morrison said the measure does not apply to students in classrooms.

Mr Morrison instructed teachers to adopt the work ethic of supermarket workers and bus drivers who have continued to work despite the risk of contracting coronavirus

‘The four square metre rule and the 1.5m distancing between students during classroom activities is not appropriate and not required. I can’t be more clear than that,’ he told reporters.

Mr Morrison also emphasised there was no requirement for minimum floor space per person, unlike other enclosed areas such as shops.

However, unions have slammed the Prime Minister’s advice as contradictory, and are adamant social distancing measures are vital to ensure the safety of their members. 

In a statement, the Australian Education Union said the social distancing guidelines ‘provide little clarity about how governments are going to ensure a safe working environment for teachers, principals and support staff’.

‘It is still not clear how governments expect schools to manage social distancing for adults. It is contradictory to have one set of rules for adults outside of the school gate and another inside,’ the union’s federal president Correna Haythorpe said. 

They also hold concerns the requirements around regular cleaning and making sure soap or hand sanitiser is freely available are not being met. 

Queensland Teachers Union president Kevin Bates indicated he was open to observing the government’s notion to gradually reopen classrooms, but more information was needed on why schools are exempt from the 4sqm rule.

The QTU will consult with the state government and examine the findings of the NSW study on Monday.  

The Queensland government will review its decision to close classrooms to all students other than those from families of essential workers and vulnerable children on May 15.

In Victoria, all students are encouraged to learn from home for term two, but schools will remain open for vulnerable children and children of essential workers.

AEU Victorian president Meredith Peace slammed Mr Scott Morrison’s directive.

‘It is ­bizarre that the Prime Minister has been ­telling us for six weeks how important social distancing is but today he has basically said that it no longer matters for students or teachers,’ she said, The Australian reports.

States have been divided over arrangements to reopen schools for term two. A sign is pictured outside St Kilda Primary school notifying of limited access under remote learning restrictions on April 15, 2020

‘Throughout this pandemic we’ve been worried that many seem to be neglecting the health and safety of teachers, and these comments only reinforce that. While we’re as keen as anyone to return to normal life, including a return to school, we must plan that return carefully to ensure the ­safety of both staff and students.’  

In a full-page newspaper advertisement published on Friday, the State School Teachers’ Union of WA urged parents too keep their children home if possible – against the government’s advice. 

The union made reference to physical distancing guidelines issued by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, claiming they can be adhered to when schools have limited numbers ‘but not when they are full’. 

Education Minister Sue Ellery condemned the advertisement as ‘misleading’. 

‘The AHPPC advice has been from the beginning, and is now, that because of the low risk of transmission, schools are safe for staff and students and should stay open,’ she told 6PR radio.

‘There is reference to distancing but it’s about very specific things.’

In Western Australia, classes will open for all government school students from Wednesday but attendance will not be enforced. 

SSTUWA president Pat Byrne later issued a statement claiming the union’s position was ‘consistent with the state government’s approach’.

‘Teachers support the managed return of face-to-face teaching, as part of an approach which is consistent with the gradual easing of school distancing requirements by government,’ it said.

‘Support them by keeping your kids home if you can – then we can make schools as safe as possible until we can all be back at school together.’

NSW schools are due to return for one day a week from May 11, the third week of term two, with a gradual progression to full-time learning as restrictions are eased. 

South Australian students will ­return to school next week. 

The school debate runs alongside other government initiatives to relax COVID-19 restrictions.

On Friday, the national cabinet ­released ten principles to make workplaces safe, and is focusing on strategies to get people back playing sport. 

HOW AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL STUDENTS WILL LEARN FROM TERM 2

VICTORIA 

•  Term 2: Wednesday April 15 – Friday June 26

• Government primary, secondary and special schools move to remote learning and teaching.

• On site learning available for vulnerable students and children of parents unable to work from home.

• Government providing free internet and laptops for students who need it.

• End of year VCE exams moved to December.

QUEENSLAND

• Term 2: Monday April 20 – Friday June 26

• Students who are able to learn from home will move to remote online learning.

• Schools remain open for school staff including teachers, vulnerable students, and children of parents unable to work from home.

• Government providing sim cards with internet access to students who are unable to access the internet at home.

• Remote learning measures will be in place until May 22.

NORTHERN TERRITORY

• Term 2: Monday April 20 – Friday June 26

• Schools to remain open and students are expected to attend physically.

• Exceptions can be made for students to learn from home if their parents inform the school.

NEW SOUTH WALES

• Term 2: Monday April 27 – Friday July 3

• Students encouraged to stay at home and learn remotely if possible.

• Schools remain open for those who cannot learn remotely or have parents unable to work from home.

• NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the guidelines are unlikely to be changed early in the term.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

• Term 2: Monday April 27 – Friday July 3

• Schools remain open, though parents are free to keep their children at home.

• All schools are providing access to online learning for students who remain at home.

• Some private schools have transitioned to all online learning.

• Flexible arrangements put in place to assist students in year 11 and year 12, and it is expected end of year exams will still be conducted for year 12 students.

• Schools in and between the towns of Nuriootpa, Tanunda, Angaston, Lyndoch and Williamstown closed until further notice due to a cluster of cases in the Barossa Valley.

• Schools will close for at least 24 hours if a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19 to allow all families to be advised and for the site to be cleaned. A site will only re-open on the advice of health authorities.

ACT

• Term 2: Tuesday April 28 – Friday July 3

• Students to move to remote learning at home.

• Some schools will remain open for vulnerable students and the children of essential workers.

• All students will follow the same curriculum.

• Government will provide computers and internet devices to students in need.

TASMANIA

• Term 2: Tuesday April 28 – Friday July 3

• Students to continue to learn from home where possible.

• Schools remain open for students whose parents are unable to supervise at home due to work or are unable to support learning at home.

• Teachers to provide students with school work online, offline or a combination of both. 

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

• Term 2: Tuesday April 28 – Friday July 3

• Students were urged to learn remotely from home if their parents are not essential service workers or vulnerable towards the end of term one.

• All schools provided access to online learning for students at home.

• Students will complete their Year 12 exams this year, but they may be shorter and start a couple of weeks later.

• School holidays are being used to develop an education model for term two and beyond.

• It is unclear whether students will receive their usual report cards in term two, but there will be some form of feedback.

• If anyone at a school tests positive for COVID-19, the school will be temporarily closed for tracing and cleaning.

SOURCE: AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS 

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