By Martin Cole-
Students in West Australia and British Columbia in Canada, will be forced to wear masks in the classroom as they return to school.
Australian Education Secretary, Sue Ellery,(pictured) announced the mandatory rules. She said: “Students and staff will be wearing masks – those who are required – to get themselves to school anyway, but in the event a student or staff member doesn’t have one or it breaks, there are masks provided to private and public schools,” she said.
“If we want our economy to pick back up parents need to be able to go back to work. Plus we have clinical advice about what we need to do,” she said.
Teachers in the classroom would be permitted to take their mask off if it was necessary to communicate directly with students, but under the rules, parents will be allowed to visit school sites and drop off their children, particularly younger children for week one, but will have to wear masks.
Ms Ellery said the Australian government considered the public health advice, social and economic impacts when deciding on the COVID-19 restrictions required. She concluded that the congregation of pupils at schools and the potential risks was not enough reason to keep schools closed for longer.
The pandemic has hit Australia’s economy and education system hard, like it has done in many countries in the world.
Australian students will now have to wear masks in class Image: Mandy Williams
University Job Cuts
Australian universities have since cut more than 17,000 jobs, according to industry group Universities Australia. It said operating revenue fell 4.9% last year and is expected to fall another 5.5% this year.
“As students finish and we haven’t got new ones coming, we’re yet to hit the bottom basically,” said Peter Hurley, a policy fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Education and Health Policy, which forecast that the country’s universities could lose up to $15 billion in international tuition through 2023.
British Columbia’s education minister in Canada, has also made masks mandatory for middle and high school students, and kindergarten-to-grade 12 teachers.
“We want students, their families, and staff to feel confident with the safety measures in place – that’s why we’re making these updates,” announced Minister of Education Jennifer Whiteside this afternoon.
Instead of removing masks upon entering their classroom, middle and high school students will now have to stay masked until seated at their desks.
“It isn’t going to be a huge shift,” said Prince George District Acting Superintendent Cindy Heitman. “The only difference, really, for our students and staff is that they have to wear their masks within their learning groups.”
Students will not need to wear a mask when at a workstation, if separated by a barrier, or while eating.
“If they have to get up and move to sharpen a pencil or get something, they’ll have to put their masks on,” said Heitman. “So, we’ll have to do some more education around reminding students to wear their masks when they leave their workspace.”
The rules also requires the wearing of masks during singing, that strenuous physical activities be done outdoors, and musical equipment be sterilized between players.
Previously, middle and high school students had to wear a mask in all high traffic areas, such as hallways, outside classrooms, on buses, and in situations where physical distancing wasn’t possible, but were allowed to remove their masks within their learning groups.
Rapid response teams allocated a total of $900,000, will work in each health authority to improve the speed of school exposure investigations.
B.C. Teachers Federation President Teri Mooring, who welcomed today’s changes, called for more changes in the battle against the pandemic. Reduced class sizes, improved ventilation in schools, and prioritized vaccinations for teachers, were among other changes Mooring wants to see occur.
The decision to send children back to schools with new rules to force them to wear masks is miles away from the current situation in England where schools remain closed until March at the earliest. There are so far no announcements in relation to mandatory mask wearing in UK classrooms when students return, but students are already required to wear masks in corridors and school surroundings, but not in class.