Gerry Campbell, head of Catholic education sector, warns against extending school closures

Gerry Campbell, the chief executive of the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS), has warned against any extension of the two-week closure set to come to an end on November 2.

This comes after a minister in the Northern Ireland Executive, Sinn Fein Communities Minister Caral Ni Chuilin, said the rate at which the virus is spreading would “ideally” need to drop before schools can be reopened.

Ms Ni Chuilin, speaking to the BBC’s ‘Sunday Politics’ programme, said the ‘R rate’ would need to drop below one.

The latest estimate shows that it is above one.

The Department of Education, meanwhile, has said there is no “R rate” target for the reopening of schools and stressed that the Executive still intends to reopen schools on Monday.

“There is no R rate target relating specifically to the reopening of schools,” the spokesperson said.

“The Executive will continue to be guided by the medical and scientific advice.

“It remains the Executive’s intention that schools will reopen on Monday November 2.

“The education minister’s priority is for the continuation of face to face teaching as the best form of educational provision whilst providing a safe and welcoming environment for children and staff.”

In the first wave of the pandemic, some Catholic maintained schools were the first to decide to close.

And before lockdown restrictions were imposed in March, the leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland Archbishop Eamon Martin appealed to the Education Minister Peter Weir to press ahead with school closures.

Today, Mr Campbell stressed the importance of keeping schools open.

“All must be done to support the reopening of schools in early November after the extended mid-term break announced by the minister of education,” he said.

“CCMS is extremely concerned about both the impact on our children and young people and the longer-term effects that this crisis will have on our current cohort of pupils.

“The impact on the economy, communities and wider society is likely to have repercussions for years to come and education, in particular, faces significant obstacles and difficulties.

“The road ahead will continue to present many challenges and it is clear that we must all pull together to support our leaders and staff in schools so that they can do their utmost to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 and continue to provide the best possible start in life for all of our children and young people.”

He added: “Catholic maintained schools have been very successful in providing a balanced and holistic education to thousands of young people, through a continuum of varied learning experiences.”