Sir, – The Tánaiste states that schools will fully reopen at the end of August if the coronavirus continues to be suppressed (News, July 23rd). The accompanying photograph shows Leo Varadkar and two other TDs, socially distanced by 17 empty seats. So, at that spacing, my classroom will accommodate just four students. Perhaps we could use the Dáil chamber? That would allow for the same level of social distancing which TDs allow themselves. – Yours, etc,
DERVAL DUGGAN,
Kilternan,
Dublin 18.
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Sir, – Our new Minister for Education has shown she is rapidly mastering the dark and arcane skills of political gobbledygook. She tells us she will be presenting to Cabinet a “solution-focused roadmap” for the problems surrounding the reopening of schools. Would this be different from an old-fashioned “solution”? Or does her roadmap have large print and a big arrow pointing to the magic spot? – Yours, etc,
RODNEY DEVITT,
Sandymount, Dublin 4.
Sir, – Schools have been closed since March 12th and here we are, in late July, none the wiser. What is the Department of Education playing at? First there was the Leaving Certificate fiasco, followed by the delay in publishing results, and now we eagerly await a plan for the reopening of schools, which apparently has not even been budgeted for! Does anyone in the Department of Education actually know what’s going on? The unfolding situation certainly doesn’t inspire confidence, and as the weeks pass by, I am slowly resigning myself to the fact that I won’t be teaching my class once again on September 1st. It’s a dismal prospect. Yours, etc,
DEE DELANY,
Raheny,
Dublin 5.