A survey by the Central Statistics Office has found that one in three parents of schoolgoing children are "extremely" or "very" concerned about the ability of their child's school to provide a safe environment in the context of Covid-19.
It also found that just over 6% do not intend to send their child to either pre-school, primary school, or secondary school due to their concerns.
The survey was conducted last week and has a final sample size of 1,333.
Two out of three respondents with a child going into their Leaving Certificate year reported that school closures had a "major" or "moderate" negative impact on their child's learning.
Two out of three respondents with primary school children, and just over 40% of those with secondary school children, reported that their child spent two hours or less daily on learning activities provided by their school during the period of enforced school closures.
Two in three (67.0%) respondents with a child in Leaving Cert. in 2021 reported that enforced school closures had a Major or Moderate negative impact on their child's learninghttps://t.co/BfGE1oA3oB #CSOIreland #Ireland #BackToSchool #ReturnToSchool #Education pic.twitter.com/bLwHhBsSYs
— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) August 27, 2020
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The electronic survey of the impact of school closures and attitudes towards school reopening also reveals the uneven impact of school closures on the working lives of parents.
Almost one in five mothers of primary school children say they may have to give up work if schools are obliged to close again as a result of Covid-19, compared to 4% of fathers.
Respondents with schoolgoing children were asked if they would avail of a Covid-19 vaccine for their child if one were to become available.
Nearly two in three respondents reported that they would be "very" or "somewhat" likely to do so.
The Social Impact of Covid-19 survey August 2020 also asked all respondents - not just those with school children - to rate their compliance with current government advice and guidelines regarding Covid-19. This continues a series of compliance statistics from April and June 2020.
In August, just over three in four (75.4%) of respondents rated their compliance with current government advice and guidelines as "high".
This rate is higher than the rate in June when the country was just about to enter Phase 3 of the Roadmap for reopening society (59.9%) but lower than the April rate (80.6%).
Children going back to school right thing to do - Public Health Specialist
Public Health Specialist Dr Abbey Collins said that it really is so important that children get back to school.
She said they need access to education, learn to socialise safely and have access to school counsellors and enhance their learning and opportunities in further life.
She said the longer children are out of school the more difficult and inequitable it is across Irish society.
Speaking at a Health Service Executive briefing she said that children going back to schools is the right thing to do.
Dr Collins said that the return to school brings nervousness and excitement.
She said Covid-19 is an 'extra dimension' that people need to think about in terms of a return to school.
Dr Collins said they know that children are not the drivers in infection when it comes to Covid-19 and would be expected to have a far milder version of the virus than adults.
However, she said that they will identify cases of Covid-19 in school facilities. She said that is when her department would get notified.
She said their approach would be to engage with the facility. She said that they listen to where they have been and where they may have got the infection from.
Dr Collins also said their priority is to try to avoid removing all children from a school in a case of an outbreak of Covid-19 in one.
She said that she would not expect to be excluding whole classes and saying that whole class were close contacts. She said she hoped it would be more measured than that.
