A LOCAL primary school principal has told how "chronic shortage" of substitute teachers remains an obstacle to keeping schools open in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
St John the Baptist Primary School Principal, Chris Donnelly, said many local schools had faced "difficulty getting staff" to cover absences caused by the virus in recent weeks.
On Monday, the Department of Education sent a circular to headteachers and education bodies stating that "there are no plans to close schools early this term or to move to remote learning".
Mr Donnelly said that schools were "fortunate" to be in a better position than last Christmas when they were forced to revert to remote learning.
This is the third academic year where schools have been impacted by Covid-19, he added, insisting schools are "well versed" in putting in place "measures to support remote learning".
He said that while he does not "see that happening this time", schools were continuing to deal with staffing issues due to rising Covid-19 rates.
"I think it's more a case of schools getting used to trying to manage staffing issues and trying to keep the classroom-based learning option open," he said.
"There's a real difficulty in the absence of substitute teachers – there's a chronic shortage in that regard. Schools are finding it really tough, and that is often what has led to some schools having to go for remote learning for a period of time, because they just can't get staff.
"I think this is probably the way it's going to be for the rest of this academic year."
The Department of Education has advised schools that they can use remote learning on a temporary basis when staff are off sick.
It "strongly encouraged" schools that switch to remote learning to allow vulnerable children and those with Special Education Needs to come to school.
