With high rates of infection among school staff, some teachers are feeling angry and unsafe because of the risk they have of catching COVID-19, and they say the government should not have left schools to decide how they would restrict the spread of the virus.
A relief teacher who worked across several schools said her risk of catching Covid-19 varied from school to school.
"It feels like you're playing Russian roulette with your health because you don't know what you're going to be encountering. Schools are not universally endorsing mask wearing so I've been in some schools where only a handful of staff and students are wearing masks," she said.
"I've been to a school where they've got a pool on which staff member is going to be infected next."
Several teachers said they bought their own KN95 masks because they were safer than those provided by the Education Ministry, and one said he had also purchased an air purifier for his classroom because the school had been supplied with only one.
Another teacher warned that even when face masks were encouraged, many young people did not wear them.
"Probably around 50 percent of students wear masks in class. It feels unsafe, probably because it is unsafe. Our protection: we open doors and windows. We wear masks. Students are 'strongly encouraged' to wear masks.”
One teacher said they resigned because the government removed its mask mandate, and another said they and others were thinking of doing the same. Another said Covid had made work much harder.
"Long days, lots of relief teachers, meetings being repeatedly bumped, kids missing heaps of school, trying to plan when we don't know what the heck will happen next, and on top of all of this I'm bloody freezing from the state-of-the-art ventilation system (open windows & doors).”
Other teachers have noted, however, that Covid prevention measures appeared to be working in their schools.
“The fact that some are unable to wear masks makes it even more important for others to wear them to provide greater protection for all. The exemption process rightfully allows for those who are unable to wear masks to not have to,” she said.
“I’m asking the Government to reconsider its position and make mask wearing mandatory for students. If not then, I’m asking schools to use the ability they have to make it so. That’s because mask wearing at schools helps reduce transmission.”
First published by RNZ, republished with permission.
