Covd: Isle of Man school face mask rules asking for trouble, says MHK

Wearing face masks in secondary schools is expected but not mandatory

Not making face masks compulsory in Isle of Man schools is "asking for trouble" with the new Omicron coronavirus variant, an MHK has said.

Juan Watterson said schools had been "petri dishes for the transmission of Covid" during the autumn term.

He made the comments after Education Minister Julie Edge revealed between 20% and 50% of high school students were wearing them.

She said making it part of school uniform was up to head teachers.

A series of measures were rolled out by the government in late November in response to the emergence of Omicron, including an expectation that pupils would wear masks.

Two island secondary schools have cancelled face-to-face lessons for some pupils due to staff illness in recent weeks.

'Different results'

Jason Moorhouse MHK said he was "not surprised" by the low take-up as the policy was introduced so close to Christmas, but efforts should be made to improve the situation next year.

"There's another massive opportunity coming up in terms of the start of term, when the children will be more responsive and the teachers will have more energy hopefully," he added.

Questioning why masks had not been made part of the school uniform, Mr Watterson called for a tougher stance to be taken.

He said: "If we don't do anything differently, we know this wave is coming, I don't know how we can expect different results."

In response Ms Edge said rules on school uniforms were part of the "devolved responsibilities" of head teachers.

"If the head teachers wish to make it mandated in their schools, it's not a centralised policy it would be a school policy, and I would support the head teachers," she added.