THERE have been calls for the Education Minister to allow student teachers to be deployed to schools who are struggling with staff shortages due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
 
The Deputy Chair of Stormont’s Education Committee, Pat Sheehan MLA has written to the Minister to request action to avoid a circuit breaker for schools this winter.
 
“There is some concern growing about the absence of teachers from schools at the moment because of the pandemic,” he said. 

“Teachers are having to self-isolate and it has been the case since schools started back in September that it has been extremely difficult for school principals to get substitute teachers in to cover teachers who are off sick.
 
“What I am asking the Minister to do now is to allow, particularly those in their final years, to be allowed to come in to schools as substitutes so that schools can remain open.
 
“If the situation gets as bad as some people think it might, what is going to happen is schools, or at least classes, will have to be sent home.
 
“I am not trying to scaremonger, I am just suggesting that we should be ready for the worst case scenario so that rather than close schools, principals can call on student teachers to come in and supervise classes."
 
The West Belfast MLA said the situation is "worrying at the minute".

"Hopefully it won’t get worse but we need to be ready for the worst possible situation.”

One school that has already had to take measures is St Colm’s High School in Twinbrook who have had to switch back to a blended learning approach to deal with staff shortages.
 
Principal Adrian Walsh explained how the situation is affecting his school.
 
“What we have found this week is that there has been an increase in staff contracting Covid. In addition to that I have other absences. From Monday, I have had six teachers out of school,” he said.
 
“When I come in to try and cover six teachers, the Northern Ireland Substitute Teachers Register is there as a resource to get teachers, but you could sit for hours ringing people and there is no answer or they are already in a job.
 
“I have children coming in every day and I have a responsibility for their care and safety. If I don’t have staff coming in then I can’t supervise them and so that puts me in a very difficult situation.
 
“On Monday morning when I came in, the first thing I did was to phone the chair of my Board of Governors and agreed with them that I would have to suspend year groups on different days this week and go to a blended approach until such times that my staff will be able to return to work.”

Adrian added that he is having to take the situation on a daily basis and due to the nature of the pandemic, he cannot plan ahead for staff absences.
 
“In the interim, if students were being brought in to assist, like in nursing where they were bringing students in early or bringing retired people back in. Where there is a shortage, you have to do what you can to ensure that the pupils can come to school.
 
“At the end of the day, we need our children to be in school, we need them to be educated and face-to-face teaching is the most effective way to deliver on a child’s education.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: “The Department is aware of the ongoing difficulties faced by schools in securing appropriate cover as a result of staff absence and acknowledges that all school staff are working under extremely challenging circumstances to try to keep schools fully open.  

"We are aware that the employing authorities are working closely with schools who are experiencing staffing difficulties due to Covid to provide additional support, including sourcing appropriate teaching cover where available.”

Meanwhile, St John the Baptist Primary School’s principal, Chris Donnelly has said that the proposal by Pat Sheehan will have to be considered by the Education Minister.
 
“The level of staff absence across the North is alarming,” he said.
 
“I had a class out for extended testing and after that they had to receive remote learning for two days because of the staffing crisis.
 
“I think the proposal around student teachers is something that the minister might need to look at. When it comes to student teachers, some are already on placement and others will be due to come out on extended placement from January.
 
“It is more than likely that it will be a steep learning curve for them in that schools will be availing of the extra professional support to give a hand more so than normal.
 
“It is something that the minister is going to have to seriously look at and consider the experience in the South before making a move on it up here.”
 
A spokesperson for St. Mary’s Teacher Training College added: “At St Mary’s University College we work in close partnership with schools and are very grateful of all the support we receive from them. 
 
“Therefore we would like to do whatever can be done to support our colleagues in the teaching profession. At present we have students on placement in only 20 schools linked to the year-long PGCE programme in Irish-medium education. 
 
“However, in the new year our student teachers will be on placement in over 300 schools across the north and we hope that this may provide some additional support.”