Covid-19: Union calls for new school measures to 'slow spread'

Education, Sport and Culture said a staggered return to school risked further disruption to pupils

A teachers' union has called for new measures in Guernsey schools to "slow the spread" of the Omicron variant.

The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) urged on-site testing and a staggered return to school in January.

It said the measures would "minimise disruption to education".

Education, Sport and Culture said current measures limited risks of Covid-19 in schools and it would not make "hasty decisions".

Dr Patrick Roach, from the Guernsey branch of the NASUWT, said "the immediate introduction of additional education measures" would "help slow the spread of Covid-19" and "minimise further disruption to education".

Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, president of the Committee for Education, Sport and Culture, said students were already being asked to take a lateral flow test before attending school on the first three days of term.

There was also "extensive surveillance testing" for contacts of positive cases, she said.

"Testing before students arrive at school is preferable to testing on-site as it further limits the risk of positive cases attending school," she said.

The health benefits of staggering a return to school had to "outweigh the disruption to student's education", she added.

She feared that further disruption could "compound earlier pandemic-related disruptions", but she would be discussing the situation with Public Health.

She said head teachers were able to cancel, postpone or move online non-essential activities or events.