The Education Minister said she was “happy” to receive a letter from a student complaining of the “absolutely freezing” conditions caused by windows left open for Covid ventilation.
Sadbdh Ryan from Scoil Ard Mhuire in Limerick, took to the airwaves on Monday to explain how she has to wrap up to try and keep warm during the school day.
Ms Ryan said she has to wear two pairs of socks, leggings, gloves, and a jumper, coat and cardigan on top of her uniform to prevent herself freezing in school.
Minister Norma Foley has advised school managers to implement public health advice which requires open windows and doors to facilitate ventilation in the battle to keep Covid under control in the classrooms.
Sadbdh told Ryan Tubridy on his RTE radio show on Monday: “I wrote an email to the Minister for Education and the Taoiseach to say our schools are absolutely freezing and that there was no thought put into it when they were talking about it.
“It’s just really cold and there’s no-one listening.
“Our windows are all open and our doors are all open and they have to be all open because if our CO2 monitors go to red we have to leave the classroom.”
She added: “We layer up as much as we can.
“I wear my school uniform and then I have my jumper and my cardigan and my jacket.
“I have leggings on underneath my skirt, two pairs of socks, gloves and everything, it’s freezing, and I’m still cold.”
A spokesman for the Minister told the Irish Mirror: “Minister Foley has received the letter referred to and is always happy to hear directly from students of their experiences and appreciates the time taken to write to her.
“School re-opening has taken place in challenging circumstances this new year, and the re-opening is a testament to the hard work and dedication of school communities.
“The education sector has shown a remarkable resilience, flexibility, generosity and goodwill to meet those challenges head on.
“It is acknowledged that in a period of colder weather ventilation in schools can be more difficult to manage.
“This is why the guidance provided to schools last year and which schools were advised again of last week specifically addresses this point and gives practical advice.”
The Department said that detailed advice had been issued to all schools last week about the best ways to keep classrooms ventilated, while keeping staff and student discomfort to a minimum.
The Department spokesman added: “The over-arching approach for schools should be to have windows open as fully as possible when classrooms are not in use (e.g. during break-times or lunch-times and also at the end of each school day) and partially open when classrooms are in use.”
