Parents and teachers across Ireland have been expressing their concerns ahead of the upcoming academic year, calling for clearer guidance and better support from Government. With a return to school imminent, many have been preparing for what’s to come however images posted to Twitter of a student ‘isolation room’ at one Westmeath primary school have done nothing to lessen mounting worries.
The photos shared by RTÉ reporter Ciaran Mulloolly and taken at Clonbonny National School near Athlone have sparked widespread outrage online. Commenting that both parents and staff are “NOT happy with the lack of support”, the images have angered people all around the country who said that schools need to be provided with better resources to deal with new public health guidelines.
Showing photos of the school’s garden shed, it’s where children with Covid symptoms will be forced to isolate according to Mullooly.
ISOLATION ROOM? Parents & staff at Clonbonny National School bear Athlone are NOT happy with the lack of support from Dept of Education in their efforts to get extra space at the school. This is the garden shed – where children with covid symptoms will be isolated at the school pic.twitter.com/5oPLewRDwb
— Ciaran Mullooly (@ciaranmullooly) August 26, 2020
ISOLATION ROOM? Parents & staff at Clonbonny National School bear Athlone are NOT happy with the lack of support from Dept of Education in their efforts to get extra space at the school. This is the garden shed – where children with covid symptoms will be isolated at the school pic.twitter.com/BVodP1KkKE
— Ciaran Mullooly (@ciaranmullooly) August 26, 2020
Noting that the wooden shed would be “impossible to sanitise”, onlookers have described the situation as “genuinely disturbing” adding that it will lead to huge stigma towards those who display symptoms.
A further tweet by Mullooly states that Clonbonny National School has told the Department of Education repeatedly that they cannot provide social distancing of one metre without the provision of a new portacabin.
Header image via Twitter/Ciaran Mullooly
