Health authorities had predicted that case numbers would spike as students made their long awaited return to the classroom last Monday, with no schools having to close due to coronavirus outbreaks or staff shortages.The Department of Education has credited the statewide rapid testing program as crucial to keeping all schools open.A Department of Education spokesman said all affected schools are managing their cases “incredibly well” by providing “clear emails” to families alerting them to a positive case and the details of the exposure so parents can monitor their children for symptoms. “Detecting coronavirus cases through our school rapid testing program shows that our program is working – catching cases before they enter the classroom to keep school communities safer,” he said.With more than 1.1 million Victorians in schools every day, the 3310 cases represent just 0.3 per cent of the school cohort. “These cases are an extremely low proportion of the overall case tally,” the spokesman added. Despite high daily case numbers, classroom attendance for government school students this week has remained within the “normal range of attendance typically seen in the first week of the school year”. “The return to the classroom for 2022 has been enthusiastically embraced by the vast majority of Victorian students and families,” the spokesman said. Education Minister James Merlino thanked all school communities that are “working incredibly hard to keep campuses safe”. “This week has been an incredibly exciting time for students and their families – and school staff too – as they return to classrooms across Victoria,” Mr Merlino said. “It’s been great to visit some of our new school campuses this week and share in the excitement with students across the state.” The Department of Education and Training advises students to take rapid tests twice weekly.Students at specialist schools were advised to take tests five days per week. But independent Education Union Victoria Tasmania general secretary Deb James said some teaching staff were apprehensive about the upcoming weeks, with some schools reportedly not receiving enough rapid tests for students to take one test during the first week of term one as cases in schools surged. “Some schools didn’t have enough for everyone to even do one test but I understand they continue to roll out,” Ms James said. “There is a fair bit of nervousness about how it’s going to play out over the next few weeks if cases rise and plans are disrupted – but we all know now that we need to take this one day at a time while being prepared for any eventuality.” Ms James called for additional supplies of masks to be delivered to schools to help quell anxieties within the school community. “These have become an essential tool of the job, and providing them to staff is an important measure to support the safety of staff and the school community,” she said. “Everyone has been doing their best to make the return to school a safe and positive experience for students.” Australian Education Union Victorian Branch president Meredith Peace said the union continued to monitor the rollout of RATs and the implementation of other critical safety measures, and will work constructively with the department to ensure school environments are as safe as possible. “The return to school in 2022 during the Omicron wave has created new and additional challenges for schools in distributing RATs and managing new Covid safe protocols,” Ms Peace said. “The past two years have been a challenging time, but over and over again we have seen the dedication, professionalism and resilience of teachers, principals and education support staff writ large.”
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