I have a bad feeling.
It was almost like a deja vu feeling creeping over me when my children came out of school last Friday and informed me that they will be bringing home all their school books this Wednesday – 'just in case.'
What the teachers and principal meals by 'just in case' of course, is that they are worried they will have to return to digital teaching and learning should the need arise when the new term starts on January 6 next year.
Yikes.
This is starting to feel a lot like last year, when a decision was taken in late December to extend the Christmas break because of a rapid increase in cases of Covid-19. And what was meant to be just a three-day extension to the holidays ultimately turned into weeks – and for many pupils months – of remote learning.
However, nothing has been decided yet, and I don't know about other schools, but my children's principal sent an e-mail on Friday saying they have no reason to believe we will be returning to homeschooling, and that this is simply just a case of preparing for every eventuality.
A source also confirmed to the
Irish Independent that this is the case.
However – there is one major difference from this time last year – now, most of the country's adults and older school children are already vaccinated, with many having also received a third shot in the form of a booster dose.
Meanwhile, primary-age pupils remain unvaccinated and, while inoculation will start next week for those in high-risk categories, the vaccination programme will not extend to all five- to 11-year-olds until next month.
