THE STORMONT Assembly is to be recalled this week to discuss the situation regarding Covid-19 in schools.
The Speaker has decided the recall, which follows a petition put forward by Sinn Féin, will take place on Thursday, September 9, at 12 pm.
Some principals have expressed concern that guidance on testing and tracing has caused a high number of pupils to miss classes.
Despite having no experience or training, and more than 3,240 confirmed cases in school age children in the last seven days, teaching staff are having to identify and alert close contacts of pupils who have tested positive.
First Minister Paul Givan has suggested a quicker test could be used.
Assembly members were officially due to resume assembly business on Monday.
The recall, proposed by Pat Sheehan MLA, needed 30 signatures to pass.
Education Minister Michelle McIlveen needed to give “clear guidance” and put in place enough resources to support staff in keeping schools open, he said.
On Tuesday, Mr Givan, a DUP colleague of the minister, said the executive may need to consider other options for Covid-19 testing and contact tracing in schools.
It comes after more than half of the pupils at Larne High School were absent on Monday because they were in close contact with a positive case.
The current guidance issued by the Public Health Agency (PHA) last month advised that close contacts of a positive case can avoid self-isolation if they had recently tested positive themselves and present no symptoms.
Otherwise, if a pupil is a close contact and has no symptoms but has not had a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the previous 90 days, they are advised to self-isolate until they have taken a test.
Mr Givan said this policy was supported by all the parties in the executive and should be followed, rather than children having to self-isolate for the previous requirement of 10 days.
Mr Givan conceded it was “becoming difficult” to find available slots for PCR tests and questioned if the education system should “go back to a system of lateral flow testing”, which are not as accurate but provide quick results.
He said that such tests were considered sufficient for access to venues such as sporting events and could be “carried out at home by parents”.
“Every option needs to now be considered because if the system within the Public Health Agency cannot support principals to implement a policy which was to prevent children being put out for 10 days and to have a turnaround of 24 hours, then we need to be considering other options,” he explained.
Stormont education committee chair Chris Lyttle has called for clarity on the issue.
The Alliance assembly member said he had requested that both the PHA and chief medical officer to attend Wednesday’s committee meeting.
“We need greater clarity on what the evidence is behind the system we have in place, and whether the system is operating as it is supposed to,” he said.
Following the absence levels at Larne High School, the PHA has set up a mobile testing facility at Larne Leisure Centre. It is open until 15:00 BST on Tuesday.
On Sunday, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said some schools had decided not to follow the PHA guidance because they feared it could lead to greater infection rates.
The union said some principals would like pupils to have longer self-isolation periods to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their classmates.
The First Minister said he wanted the Department of Health to provide an update on the situation at Thursday’s executive meeting.
“We need our children in school, parents want children in school, teachers want the children in school but they need to have the right support to make that happen,” Mr Givan added.
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