April 28, 2020 at 12:48 pm
Clarification regarding collection of books from Primary State schools
The MUT wrote to the Permanent Secretary in relation to the circulars issued regarding collection of books in primary schools. The issue is that the Union is hearing all sort of directions from schools, some of which are outright misinformation. These include, for example, that parents will visit classrooms in the presence of teachers or that children will be on school premises. The MUT only agreed for essential items for learning to be collected by parents and not by students and that contact between parents and educators should be avoided at all times. When necessary, school staff will prepare the items in containers with student names and they should be collected by the parents from the entrance of the school, and not from the classrooms, according to a schedule to be issued by the school. Educators will not be present during this collection. This procedure has already been carried out successfully in a number of Church schools.
In view of this, the MUT has requested that circular 16/2020 by the DES sent to primary schools is also sent to teachers. This will avoid any alternative initiatives than discussed and agreed following the full advice by the health authorities. The MUT also requested MEDE to ensure the full adherence of its content in all schools. The MUT also notifies members that the directive issued previously on this issue has been suspended. As always, members are kindly requested to report through the usual channels any abuse.
