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It “beggars belief” the decision to delay the reopening of schools in light of rising Covid-19 cases does not extend to creches and childcare facilties, representatives from the sector have said.
On Wednesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced primary and secondary schools would remain closed until January 11th, having been expected to reopen on January 4th or 6th, depending on the school.
The decision to delay reopening was made at a hastily convened Cabinet meeting on Wednesday following an increase in the number of cases of Covid-19, the highest number of hospitalisations since May and a massive rise in referrals of suspected cases in the past week.
The delay had been called for by John Boyle, general secretary of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), in a letter to Minister for Education Norma Foley on Tuesday.
However, the delayed reopening does not apply to early years facilities such as creches and childcare premises – a move which has been criticised by those in the sector.
Early Childhood Ireland, the leading organisation in the early years sector, said it was deeply unhelpful to separate out creches and childcare facilities from the wider education system.
“It beggars belief that the early years and after-school sector would be disregarded and treated differently to the wider education system,” chief executive Teresa Heeney said.
“If it has been deemed necessary for schools to have 10 days to reopen safely, how can it be different for early years and school age services? Early Childhood Ireland is asking why the same decision has not been made for those who work in early years and childcare settings.
“Putting the onus on childcare providers to reopen places them in an unenviable position. They will have limited capacity as many of their staff will be unavailable. Childcare workers are being told they are vital, but they are not being treated as essential, with consequent priority access to vaccination,” she said.
Ms Heeney said there are “hundreds” of childcare settings that are based in schools and the “lack of definitive information for those providers is particularly concerning”.
“They cannot be left to negotiate individually with boards of management and to manage the impact on their funding, as they will lose income from fees,” she added.
The Siptu trade union has also called for equal treatment for all educators.
Siptu head of organising Darragh O’Connor said Mr Martin told the nation that the reopening of primary and secondary schools will be delayed to allow families to minimise their contacts and allow schools implement new Covid-19 protective measures.
“The reality is that early years educators and parents face the exact same challenges. However as it stands the early years sector is expected to reopen from Monday January 4th.”
He added: “Siptu is demanding that the start date is pushed back to coincide with the reopening of schools and that equal treatment for early years educators is applied to ensure the same protections can be implemented and people are kept safe.”
Early years educator and Siptu member Clare Casey said people working in the sector “should be treated with the same respect shown to other educators”.
“ As an educator, I experience the same fears around contracting Covid-19 as my colleagues in primary and secondary schools and just because I work in a creche doesn’t mean I am immune to catching this deadly virus.”
The Department of Children has been contacted for comment by The Irish Times.