Closing Schools - What about working parents !!!

Sleeper12 wrote: »

What if your child was Jaundiced? They could have to be off school for months with some illness. You'd have to come up with a plan then on even shorter notice & if your child had a contagious illness like Jaundice you couldn't buddy up with other parents.



It's part of life & part of being a parent

All I'm trying to say is to have some sympathy.

Worrying for parents who work in healthcare. All well and good for office workers etc to stay at home but I know of a lot of families who have both parents in healthcare and it’s not ideal to take time off at the moment. Who will mind their kids?

BuboBubo wrote: »

They could work opposite shifts? Lots of couples do.

True. Not possible for everyone though!

Noddy Nangle wrote: »

Hi All

Both my wife and I work and we have two primary school children. After school we make use of the nearby after school for minding our kids until we finish work. So if all of these places shut down what are we to do ? I can’t exactly trll my employer that I can’t work for the next two months as I have no one to mind the kids and secondly even if I did I won’t be entitled to any pay and we couldn’t survive for a couple of months with no money and we won’t be entitled to the 305 sick pay. I personally think the government need to think this through before they act. It’s all well and fine for teachers and the public sector but what about the Joe soaps with a regular job in the private sector. To say I’m worried is an understatement !!!

Talk to your employer about working part time, on opposite days or shifts to your partner.

The tax rules mean most workers will get about 75% of theurvnormal wage for working 50% of the week.

BuboBubo wrote: »

They could work opposite shifts? Lots of couples do.

Not every healthcare worker works shift

ThewhiteJesus wrote: »

Us joe soaps in the public sector have kids and bills too you know.Plus a lower average wage

if the Dept of Health closes the schools you'll still get paid. And be guaranteed your job back.

In private sector we will see people not be paid and a number will see their employer go out of business too....so will lose their job.

I'm more worried about my mother or my wife's father getting it, it would probably kill them, I'll suffer the pain of the schools closing but I'm lucky I could work from home in theory, I'll probably find out soon enough.

I may have missed something but I haven't seen anything where it would be said that kids who traveled to Italy should stay at home.

It seems everyone is an expert on Corona Virus and what should be done. It also seems that school what's app groups are the most hysterical.

On the subject of school closures there are no community transfers in Ireland at this time. Considering it is very disruptive to close schools and you want to limit the time schools are closed and kids seem to be less affected. So I don't know what closing schools at this time is supposed to achieve. I'm not saying it won't be needed in future.

AulWan wrote: »

Whats your solution?

Go to work, get paid, contract the virus, potentially infect other people, and die?

Seriously, we've just had our first death confirmed in the East.

My solution is to be rational and follow sensible guidelines to minimise the effects of this.

Closing schools now, while it will limit the spread now...won't eliminate the threat of the virus. Only by 100% quarantine of the country and stopping outsiders coming in from affected places will we stop the spread. We would need to lock EVERYTHING down for 2 weeks+duration of any infections (which looks to be approx 28 days). So 6 weeks assuming no additional infections.

If we don't stop flights/ferries coming in with people with possible infections then any school shut down will be irrelevant because it'll just start to spread again the moment any closure is lifted. What do we do then...shut everything down again for 6 weeks?


At the moment we have a negligible amount of the population with the virus. Any school that has a case should absolutely and without question shut for at least 14 days after the infection is spotted. All students and families should self isolate for this period.

Look at the school in Dublin which was shut around 2nd March because 1 student had tested positive. Have any other students contracted the virus?


Shutting schools/places of work are not a containment phase strategy. They are a mitigation phase strategy because of the disruption to everything that they cause. You forget that nurses and doctors have children too. Who should look after their kids because schools are shut? Or should those parents stay at home to look after their kids and not do their work? Every doctor and nurse you take out of circulation has a big knock on effect on the health system and capacity of the system.

If (and i hope its an if) we get more cases, and they aree community spread as opposed to the traceable cases we have now, then we should look at closing schools on a case by case basis...not blanket shutting. No point shutting schools in Ennis if there are no cases in Ennis. Anybody who is sending their kids to the school from outside the town and is from an infected area should not send their kids to school then.

AulWan wrote: »

Whats not to understand, here? This is an international emergency.

absolutely. The biggest solution to this is for anybody with symptoms to self isolate and not get on a bloody plane and travel abroad.



and as a by the way, both myself and my wife can work from home if schools get shut down, so i won't be overly affected by a shut down if it comes to that. I'm more concerned about the damage that an unnecessary shut will do all around.

Antares35 wrote: »

Haven't there been several?

There are two or three now I think. That's the ones they don't know where they got it and those are the dangerous ones. The problem with school closures is also that kids will be often minded by grandparents who are most affected group.

tart29016 wrote: »

Does anyone know if creche are closed do you still have to pay the creche fee?

You might need to talk to your creche but the one mine were in charged for holidays. At least some overheads will be still there.

meeeeh wrote: »

There are two or three now I think. That's the ones they don't know where they got it and those are the dangerous ones. The problem with school closures is also that kids will be often minded by grandparents who are most affected group.

That's what I thought.

Good point regarding the child/ grandparent thing. To be honest, would there not be less risk of spreading keeping the kids in school rather than having them all out and about? All well and good closing schools, but not advising people to stay indoors, avoid large crowds etc.

And what about all the kids with conditions and compromised immune systems? I work as an SNA with many students who are in danger from this, many members of staff in my school are in the 50-70 bracket, I myself have 2 elderly parents with health issues as well as a fiancé with underlying health issues whom I could infect after picking it up in school. This is fairly unprecedented stuff we're dealing with, but schools are a viral breeding ground and need to be closed to slow this down.

tart29016 wrote: »

Asked them yesterday but couldn't get a straight answer. we have 2 kids in the creche and I don't think its fair for me to pay over 2K to them a month and I have to stay at home mind the kids. I appreciate they have their overheads but perhaps that's where the government support comes in. I am not sure...

It all depends also what employers are supposed to do. If government urge employers to pay wages in full or make up difference then I don't know where low margin businesses like creche are supposed to get money for it if there is nothing coming in.