Ministerial Statement

COVID-19 Schools

The Hon. B.I. BOYER (Wright—Minister for Education, Training and Skills) (14:23): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. B.I. BOYER: This week, our kids headed back into the classroom for the start of term 2. As we know, COVID-19 caused disruption to some of our schools, preschools and children's centres in term 1. We thank our teachers and support workers for navigating the challenges of COVID-19 with patience, flexibility and professionalism.

We have prepared for term 2 and we are doing everything we can to minimise the disruption to our staff, students and their families. Our focus is keeping kids learning at school and preschool. Face masks will remain in public education for the first four weeks of the term and will then be reviewed. Masks will be:

required for all adults, including visitors, except if it interferes with teaching or interacting with children;

required for students in years 7 to 12; and

strongly recommended for students in years 3 to 6.

Restrictions around some higher risk activities will be reviewed at the end of week 2. This includes large indoor assemblies and dorm-based overnight camps. All schools and preschools will continue to be supplied with surgical face masks and rapid antigen tests at no cost to staff or the school. We have a well-practised outbreak management plan for dealing with high numbers of cases of COVID-19 in specific classes and schools. The education department monitors cases and works closely with schools and preschools and SA Health to work out what action is needed. This might be classroom-level PCR testing or short circuit-breakers in classrooms to limit exposure.

Across the department, more than 95 per cent of our workforce is vaccinated against COVID-19. A vaccination policy for Department for Education staff and people who work with children in our schools and preschools came into effect on Monday. This policy allows unvaccinated workers back in the workplace with appropriate safety measures. The policy has been developed alongside SA Health following a consultation process.

We want to see as many young South Australians as possible vaccinated against COVID-19. On 27 May, we will be starting a vaccination program in 40 primary schools across the state. These will be in targeted areas with low vaccination rates. This program will make it easier for kids and parents to get their jab and will also support vaccination for the broader community. We are speeding up work to improve natural ventilation in hundreds of schools and preschools. We have also bought 1,000 more air purifiers and they are being delivered to schools where they will make the most difference.

All these measures have been developed with the guidance of Professor Spurrier and SA Health, as well as the Emergency Management Council. Our goal is to make our schools and preschools as COVID-safe as possible. It is about finding the right balance between limiting transmission and prioritising kids being in the classroom and learning face to face. I thank our dedicated education workforce for all they did in the face of the extraordinary challenges they were presented with last term, and I look forward to a successful and hopefully less disrupted term 2.