The President of the ASTI has said the union would be "cautious" about any changes to the current mask mandate in schools. Eamon Dennehy said it would be much easier for schools if the masks remained in place because covid-19 still poses a significant threat in schools.
Mr Dennehy said an average of 2,300 secondary students are contracting the disease every week. He urged caution, saying that oral exams are coming up and every effort must be made to ensure these exams can go ahead fully and students can attend. "It is a very short time ago we were looking at schools almost not opening after Christmas.
I think, make haste slowly here would be my advice." Mr Dennehy said that staff would follow public health advice and the majority would prefer if the measures remained in place and a wind down of covid restrictions would happen slowly and carefully.
He said that school communities and students have played a huge part in keeping schools safe. Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, he said that it has always been the case that restrictions in schools have been stronger than in other areas (such as pubs and restaurants) but the key difference is that attendance at school is mandatory and teachers and students can chose whether they want to go to a social venue, but they cannot decide not to attend class or work.