Schools may share information on Covid-19 cases in a class if they have parents’ consent to do so, authorities have confirmed.

Since routine testing and tracing ended in schools last September, public health advice to principals has been to avoid telling parents of other children if there has been a positive case in their child’s class.

In practice, however, many schools have been unofficially sharing anonymised information on cases in response to a Covid-19 surge in schools and the wider community.

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In a statement on Wednesday, the Department of Education confirmed “if schools are informed by parents of a case of Covid-19, and those parents are happy for this information to be shared, then principals are free to do, however no personal details should be divulged.”

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It said that, overall, the situation remains the same and the HSE continues to guard against sharing of information when specific parental consent has not been sought.

A department spokesman said schools were still required to ensure pupils with new acute symptoms do not attend class, and that all recommended infection prevention and control measures are in place to prevent spread from any asymptomatic cases who might be within the school.

A spokesman for the INTO, however, said the latest advice contradicted advice given to schools last September following the “hasty” decision to end routine testing and contact tracing in schools.

The spokesman added that schools do not have the authority to “ensure” symptomatic children do not attend classes and said there needed to be a more comprehensive public awareness campaign aimed at parents.

The department clarification comes ahead of the introduction of rapid antigen testing for Covid-19 in primary schools .

Department officials are working with health authorities to introduce a programme of antigen testing of close contacts in “specific primary school settings”, in response to the confirmation of Covid-19 cases in primary school children.

The INTO said “time is of the essence” and schools cannot afford any additional delays.

‘Substitution crisis’

Meanwhile, increasing numbers of schools say a “substitution crisis” is growing worse and could lead to pupils being sent home.

Many schools say they are also being forced to divert their special education teachers to teach mainstream classes, as a measure of last resort.

This is despite a circular from the department which does not permit the practice.

Belgrove Senior Girls’ School in Clontarf, Dublin, is one of a number of schools which says it has been forced to redeploy its special education teachers or risk sending entire classes home.

Principal Anne McCarthy said the school’s board of management had taken the decision in light of staff shortages.

“We are aware that this will have an impact on the pupils that have allocated time with these teachers,” she said.

“Previously, we were allowed bank these special education teaching hours and employ a substitute at a later date, but that unfortunately is no longer the case.”

While the 420-pupil school has access to a supply panel of four substitute teachers, she said this was regularly oversubscribed as it was shared with 26 other schools.

“This is beyond frustrating and it will impact on the more vulnerable children, who will miss out on targeted intervention. But we’re in an impossible situation; do you send a class home or use a special education teacher? This is money-saving at the expense of children.”

Minister for Education Norma Foley announced recently that 100 extra teachers are to be recruited on a full-time basis to provide substitute cover in areas where shortages are most acute.

This will bring the overall number of teachers on these supply panels to 480, which provide cover to about 2,500 primary schools.

In addition, teacher training colleges have been requested to be flexible to facilitate student teachers being available for substitution work.