All primary school kids to be back in classrooms before March 15th, says Minister for Children

Good news for parents of children in primary education.

Minister for Children, Roderic O’Gorman, has said he understands all primary school students will return to the classroom by March 15. Speaking to Philip Boucher Hayes on Today with Claire Byrne on RTÉ Radio yesterday, Minister O’Gorman said primary schools are likely to return in two phases with junior infants, senior infants, first and second class students returning with those sitting the Leaving Cert on Monday week, March 1 As for what happens after that, the Minister said his understanding after “engagement with Minister Foley” was that the second cohort of primary school students, from third to sixth class, would return two weeks after the first phase, on March 15. The focus firstly, O’Gorman explained, is to get Leaving Cert and Primary students back to their classrooms, and then monitor the situation over the next couple of weeks, before the senior primary school students are allowed to return to school. However, secondary school students who are not sitting the Leaving Cert are likely to be waiting until after Easter to return to school. The Easter break from schools this year is due to end on April 12. “As things currently stand, the majority of secondary schoolchildren will probably be returning to education following the Easter holidays,” the Minister said.