The Guardian, 4 August 2021:
The New South Wales government’s plans to have year 12 back to face-to-face teaching by 16 August appear to be in tatters, amid rising Covid case numbers among younger people and resistance from all parts of the school system.
The government is now urgently working on an alternative plan that is likely to involve different approaches for different parts of the greater Sydney region.
For many students the Higher School Certificate trial exams are likely to take place online with priority for returning to school being given to students who need to complete major works or undertake oral assessments.
The premier, Gladys Berejiklian, flagged the rethink at her daily press conference on Wednesday.
“Our commitment, and the outcome remains, that every year 12 student who is a candidate for the HSC, we’ll make sure they get their qualification. We announced that from 16 August there will be some opportunity for some level of face-to-face but we will have more to say about that,” she said......
There have been discussions about possibly using rapid antigen testing at schools, however this option may not be viable as it requires medically trained staff to administer the tests.
The focus is now on trying to facilitate the HSC exams taking place in October, but some level of face-to-face teaching could occur in areas with few cases.
“There is a requirement for public exams to be sat in October, which obviously will take place. Between now and then we need to provide certainty as to what level of face-to-face will exist from 16 August,” the premier said.
Berejiklian said the approach “would not be uniform” and that those who needed face-to-face contact with teachers would be given priority.
A week ago the premier said that year 12 would return to face-to-face learning from 16 August, announcing an urgent vaccination drive for almost 21,000 year 12 students in the eight hotspot local government areas.
Beginning Monday, the NSW government plans to bus 3,000 students to Qudos Bank Arena for Pfizer shots. Year 12 students who live in the eight hotspot LGAs as well as students who attend schools in the eight LGAs will be eligible. This will include schools like The Kings School and other private schools that draw from across Sydney .
About 40,000 Pfizer vaccine doses, which have been approved for children as young as 12, have been redirected from rural NSW and are due to be administered at Homebush.
In regional NSW, where there is no lockdown, schools have remained open with masks recommended for all students in year 7 and above and for all staff.
The plan to reopen in Sydney has been met with deep concern from both the union representing public sector teachers, the NSW Teachers’ Federation, independent schools and Catholic schools.
The NSW Teachers’ Federation president, Angelo Gavrielatos, described the move as “premature”.....
The issue of returning year 12 to school – and the health advice around it – is set to be aired next week when a parliamentary committee calls evidence from the Department of Education and NSW Health.
Read the full article here.
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