A £42m support package has been announced to help Northern Ireland's schools re-open safely during the Covid-19 crisis.
Education has been on everyone's minds lately with the A-Level and GCSE results debacle and September just a few days away. Schools across Northern Ireland are set to re-open even though cases of Covid-19 in the region are increasing, and teachers will need all the support they can get to keep their students safe this semester.
Education Minister Peter Weir has announced plans to inject £42m into the education system to help combat Covid-19 and help schools re-open safely. Around £6.4m has been set aside for PPE for teachers, £5m for wellbeing initiatives in schools, £3.1m for the additional costs of transport from home to school, and £1.4m to support special educational needs.
£3.4million has been set aside for free school meals and cleaning, £2.8million to safely re-open pre-schools, £2.4m to support online learning, and the remaining £17.5m will go toward substitute teachers and other school expenditure. This package is designed to last just for this school semester. Further plans will be drawn up if needed for following semesters.
Education Minister Peter Weir commented on the re-opening of schools: "I fully recognise the stresses felt by teachers, parents and pupils due to the ongoing disruption and uncertainty regarding the future. My key priority has always been to ensure all of our children and young people return to school on a full-time basis, as soon as it is safe to do so."
Weir was also keen to emphasise that parents should not send their children to school if they have any Covid-19 symptoms, saying "The first step in keeping our schools safe is that anyone with symptoms should not attend school."
Source: Written based on press release
