Schools reopen for the third term this week and principals are worried staff shortages and winter illnesses will be every bit as bad as last term.
They warned that some teachers and students had been at breaking point before the two-week July holiday and would need some respite in the coming months.
They also say new instructions “strongly recommending” face masks would not be as effective as a full mask mandate from the government.
Top of the South Secondary Principals Association chair Richard Dykes, tumuaki of Nelson College, says staffing and ongoing disruption to learning would be the biggest challenges as schools reopened.
“That disruption is becoming cumulative and what I’m hearing from schools from my region but also further afield around the South Island and New Zealand is the fear that we’ve got students who are already saying ‘look, given the amount of disruption - this is probably our most at-risk students - that’s it, I’m signing out’.”
Richard says in Term 2, schools had been averaging about 20 per cent of staff absent on any given day and teachers had been having to give up free periods to cover classes.
“I think principals are really worried that we just got through to the end of term pretty much at breaking point.”
“If we pick up from there and carry on at that same rate there’s a real concern among principals that the impact on our staff is going to be significant.”
He says the government needed to announce as soon as possible what measures it would take to help students pass NCEA this year and relieve the pressure on teens and teachers.
Richard says the government also needed to dial back wide-ranging changes to the school system - such as its overhaul of the NCEA qualification.
The Ministry of Education has started providing masks for staff and students and last week wrote to principals saying it strongly recommended they require masks indoors for the first four weeks of the third term. Previously mask use was only strongly encouraged.
