WITH some teachers and children preparing to return to the classroom next Monday, there is still debate abut whether or not schools are as safe as they can be to stop the spread of Covid-19.

On March 8, pupils in Primaries One to Three will return, as well as those in pre-school, while on March 22, Years 12-14 students will follow suit.

There is no date yet for the return of the other years.

Education Minister Peter Weir said that there was a strong case for all pupils to return to schools on the date in question.

However, the Chair of the education committee, Alliance MLA Chris Lyttle, said that Covid safety measures were not adequate in schools.

One option which was mooted was the possibility of prioritising the vaccination of teachers and other school staff, but last week it was announced that teachers would not be prioritised.

However, many believe that staff in schools should be vaccinated as soon as possible.

In Fermanagh, many people feel worried about the impact of a Covid-19 outbreak upon the return to schools from March 8, and the prospect of entire year groups having to self-isolate as well as a large number of staff.

This issue was posed to Impartial Reporter readers on our social media platforms. The response was huge, with the majority in favour of vaccinating teachers and other such frontline education staff as a priority.

Debbie McKittrick said: "They need to be vaccinated a few weeks beforehand in order to allow time for the vaccine to work.

"No point in sending them out to do a frontline job unprotected when the protection is there!"

Melanie McElhinney was of the same opinion, but added that all school staff should be vaccinated before they return to work.

Diane Noble could not believe they had not been vaccinated already, adding: "All frontline staff and key workers should be prioritised."

Mary-Lou Kelly said: "My personal opinion is that teachers/school staff should have been vaccinated at the very start, once all NHS staff were vaccinated."

The question sparked some debate over whether just teachers, or all school staff, should be vaccinated.

Leanne Hamilton raised the question: "What about registered childminders and nurseries who are caring for the children currently while schools are off, and some have worked all the way through? This [their vaccination too] should have been a priority, do you not think?"

Lisa Fivey asked about vaccinations for retail staff in shops such as Tesco and Asda, who have been working the whole way through the pandemic. She believes that they should receive the vaccine before anybody else.

An alternative view came from Dawn MB, who posted: "Teachers do not need to be vaccinated, in my opinion, to teach. They can wear a mask and a face shield even if they'd like, and have hand sanitizer to use. It's how we have gotten along so far!"

There were some who did not think school staff should be prioritised ahead of other frontline workers, but the majority were in favour.

With the Government announcing that teachers would not be prioritised, the expected announcement soon of the roadmap that Northern Ireland will take out of the current Covid lockdown will give an insight into what schools are facing upon their return.