The head of a leading teachers’ union has said revised guidance to schools on Covid-19 testing amid continued high transmission rates will be greeted "with cynicism" by school leaders.
According to the updated guidance, s chool principals should ask all pupils in a class where there are a number of Covid cases to take a lateral flow test.
The new guidance, which applies to pupils in both primary and post-primary schools, also states that principals do not need to contact the Public Health Agency (PHA) before introducing "extended testing".
In a joint letter to principals, the Education Authority (EA) and PHA said that the Omicron variant had "led to a steep increase in Covid-19 case numbers in Northern Ireland and this is now impacting on all of society including schools".
"Evidence shows, however, that Omicron, whilst more transmissible than previous variants, is also generally less severe in its effects with a reduced risk of serious illness and hospitalisation.
"As with Delta, the Omicron variant also presents in the vast majority of children as a mild, self-limiting illness," it added.
An accompanying letter from the PHA said: "With the very high community transmission we are experiencing, we expect to see more cases associated with a school or community setting and this does not necessarily reflect transmission in the class or school."
The PHA letter also stated that Omicron was expected to peak in the coming weeks and the guidance to schools would be reviewed again in mid-February.
A number of Northern Ireland schools have had to return some year groups to remote learning due to pressures as they struggle to find substitute teachers to cover when staff are off.
But Dr Graham Gault, director of NAHT Northern Ireland, said the perception of many school leaders is that they have now been left to fend for themselves.
Dr Gault said: “Given that official statistics show that 4,485 children and 488 school staff tested positive for coronavirus in the week ending on the 16th of January (an increase of 2,749 children and 126 staff on the previous week), school leaders can be forgiven for greeting this morning’s revised guidance with cynicism.
“In general terms, mitigations in schools have now been reduced to hand washing, opening windows and wearing masks where appropriate.
“And, despite trade union requests for reinstated contact tracing, any efforts to manage the potential spread of transmission across school communities has disappeared in all but name, to the extent that even the channels for seeking advice around multiple cases (clusters) has gone, with school leaders being left to complete a form in order to report concerns to EA.
“Whether it is truly the case or not, the perception of many school leaders is that they have now been left to fend for themselves, making very difficult decisions with potentially very serious ramifications based on their own best judgement.
“This development, along with the continuing staffing crisis, has created a critically difficult context for our school leaders,” Dr Gault added.
Previously, all school staff and post-primary pupils were advised to take twice-weekly lateral flow tests.
In the updated EA and PHA guidance, primary school children should also be asked to take a lateral flow test at home if they are in a class where there are a number of positive cases and are asymptomatic.
If the test is negative and the child has no symptoms, they can return to school, but if it is positive they should isolate and be treated as a positive case.
"Only those children and young people who have tested positive for coronavirus and those who are symptomatic awaiting test results should be isolated from the school environment," the updated guidance states.
"High-risk close contacts" will continue to be identified by the PHA.
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