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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-03-24 Daily Xml
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Coronavirus

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:23): My question is to the Premier. If keeping schools open saves lives, does that mean closing schools could compromise lives?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:23): Well, it's a difficult question to answer without knowing the specifics of the timing, because at different parts of the progress of the virus there would be different advice; and, as I was saying in my earlier answer, we really need to listen to the experts’ advice who have the detailed modelling available. They are in touch with other nations around the world and their experiences, such as the World Health Organization.

For example, we know that Singapore have kept their children at school. When we look at the evidence that is provided by the AHPPC to the national cabinet it is pretty clear that, in many past epidemics, countries that have kept their children at school have had better health outcomes than those who have removed their students from school. We are very mindful of listening to that, but we also have to take into account the specific nation that this has occurred in, the timing and the part of the epidemic that we are at. Again, I can only say that as of Sunday night the advice was very clear—in fact, it couldn't have been clearer—and it's supported by our Chief Public Health Officer in South Australia.

There are plenty of parents who can provide a safe, secure and supervised environment for their child. There are other students who may come from a more vulnerable situation where, quite frankly, going to school is very important for their social development. There are other students who really need that interactivity with other students as a critical part of what they do. We know that we are putting an enormous pressure on our teachers in schools at the moment because many teachers are now being forced to essentially provide help to students who are studying at home and to students who are in the classroom. We are very grateful for the work they are doing.

We know that some teachers in particular have some health concerns of their own. This is a concern, so we are working with their principals, the union and the department to see how those teachers can continue to do their work from home, just as some students will be doing their study from home. The complete agreement at the national cabinet on Sunday night was for all states and territories to keep all their schools open. This doesn't mean that some haven't brought forward pupil-free days, in particular to set up the systems they will need further along the line in terms of the progress of this disease. That makes sense. That would be something that we would be considering in South Australia as well.

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