❓ Mr. Healy questions the decision to mandate school attendance given health advice on low COVID-19 risk. The Premier defends the decision, citing high attendance rates, comparison to other states, and provisions for vulnerable students, emphasizing the importance of classroom learning.
AnsweredQoN 287Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS —
SCHOOLS
287. Mr T.J. HEALY to the Premier:
I
refer to the consistent health advice that schools present a low risk to students
and staff with regard to COVID-19. Can the Premier outline to the house
why the government has made the decision to require all Western Australian
students to attend school from next week?
SCHOOLS
287. Mr T.J. HEALY to the Premier:
I
refer to the consistent health advice that schools present a low risk to students
and staff with regard to COVID-19. Can the Premier outline to the house
why the government has made the decision to require all Western Australian
students to attend school from next week?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Southern
River for the question and all his work in and knowledge of education. I realise
that it has been a difficult time for many people and families across the
state. I would like to thank all Western Australians—parents, students,
teachers and education staff alike—for all their work to resolve the
issue in our schools. Yesterday, 85.2 per cent of our students were back at
school. The advice I received this morning was that Queensland has 33 per cent,
New South Wales has 37 per cent and Victoria has three per cent of students
back at school. Western Australia, once again, is leading the nation in dealing
with what has occurred with the COVID-19 pandemic. We respect the fact that it
has been difficult. Getting back to school after the school holidays was a difficult
set of circumstances in which we had to make some important decisions. The
health advice has never changed—that schools are a low risk for
students and staff—and we put in place arrangements that allowed for
parental choice to get students back at school. We reviewed that over the last
few weeks and as of next week, new arrangements will come into place.
The feedback has been overwhelming
from everyone we consulted; that is, all students will be expected to attend
school from next Monday across Western Australia, with the exception of those
who are medically vulnerable or those with a family member who has chronic
health issues. Those students will be able to continue to learn from home and
will be supported by their schools and the department. Additional teachers will
be made available to run any such programs. We will assist schools to re-engage
students who are not in that cohort I just mentioned and who are perhaps having
difficulty returning. We will make sure that we work with those families to get
kids back to school. We know that a lot of Aboriginal students are
over-represented in the non-attending, disengaged group. Additional staff will
work on getting those students back to school as well after the period we have
been through.
We are following the health advice
in what we have done and we will make sure that schools can work with medically
vulnerable staff to reduce their susceptibility or vulnerability. The strict
cleaning processes will remain in place. We are coming up with measures to
ensure that parents stay outside the school grounds and specific measures to
deal with boarding schools so that students can go back to their homes on the
weekends at the discretion of principals. The exams for ATAR courses will go
ahead as scheduled on 2 November 2020. We expect that independent and Catholic
schools will follow the lead shown by public schools across Western Australia
and return students to school.
The advice we have is that schools
are safe and students should be back in the classroom. It is the best place for
students to learn. We do not want our kids to be any more disadvantaged than
they have been out of this situation and we want to do it in a safe way. We are
very pleased to have made this decision and very pleased to get schools back.
We already have over 85 per cent attendance and we expect that figure to grow
as of Monday next week.
River for the question and all his work in and knowledge of education. I realise
that it has been a difficult time for many people and families across the
state. I would like to thank all Western Australians—parents, students,
teachers and education staff alike—for all their work to resolve the
issue in our schools. Yesterday, 85.2 per cent of our students were back at
school. The advice I received this morning was that Queensland has 33 per cent,
New South Wales has 37 per cent and Victoria has three per cent of students
back at school. Western Australia, once again, is leading the nation in dealing
with what has occurred with the COVID-19 pandemic. We respect the fact that it
has been difficult. Getting back to school after the school holidays was a difficult
set of circumstances in which we had to make some important decisions. The
health advice has never changed—that schools are a low risk for
students and staff—and we put in place arrangements that allowed for
parental choice to get students back at school. We reviewed that over the last
few weeks and as of next week, new arrangements will come into place.
The feedback has been overwhelming
from everyone we consulted; that is, all students will be expected to attend
school from next Monday across Western Australia, with the exception of those
who are medically vulnerable or those with a family member who has chronic
health issues. Those students will be able to continue to learn from home and
will be supported by their schools and the department. Additional teachers will
be made available to run any such programs. We will assist schools to re-engage
students who are not in that cohort I just mentioned and who are perhaps having
difficulty returning. We will make sure that we work with those families to get
kids back to school. We know that a lot of Aboriginal students are
over-represented in the non-attending, disengaged group. Additional staff will
work on getting those students back to school as well after the period we have
been through.
We are following the health advice
in what we have done and we will make sure that schools can work with medically
vulnerable staff to reduce their susceptibility or vulnerability. The strict
cleaning processes will remain in place. We are coming up with measures to
ensure that parents stay outside the school grounds and specific measures to
deal with boarding schools so that students can go back to their homes on the
weekends at the discretion of principals. The exams for ATAR courses will go
ahead as scheduled on 2 November 2020. We expect that independent and Catholic
schools will follow the lead shown by public schools across Western Australia
and return students to school.
The advice we have is that schools
are safe and students should be back in the classroom. It is the best place for
students to learn. We do not want our kids to be any more disadvantaged than
they have been out of this situation and we want to do it in a safe way. We are
very pleased to have made this decision and very pleased to get schools back.
We already have over 85 per cent attendance and we expect that figure to grow
as of Monday next week.
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