RollerCoaster.ie, Ireland’s leading website for the ups and downs of pregnancy, parenting and family life has compiled data from a sample of more than 1,500 of their 400k Irish readers to reveal that the primary concern of some 65% of Irish parents is that their children will contract Covid-19 when they return to school.
Despite this, a little over 1 in 4 (28%) agree that they do not believe that children returning to school will increase their chances of contracting the virus.
Masking for trouble
With this in mind, some 40% of Irish parents agree that students of all ages should have to wear face masks at all times while in school as it’s the safest thing to do.
22% of those questioned caveated this by saying that this should only be applicable to secondary school students while 17% said that they didn’t believe that this measure was needed.
Homeschool rules
With many of the nation’s parents homeschooling their children throughout the initial months of lockdown, the readers at RollerCoaster.ie were asked if this was something that they would consider continuing once the pandemic was over.
The question was met with a resounding ‘No Way!’ with three in every four parents questioned stating that that would not be an option for their families.
Despite this the remaining quarter were in favour of the idea admitting that they were loving it and would continue or would like to but their work precluded them from it.
When asked what the greatest challenges were with remote learning, a third of respondents revealed that striking a balance between working from home and their children’s schoolwork was the most taxing with 21% citing lack of teacher communication and 23% noting that getting their children to concentrate proved to be the biggest issue to overcome.
Hit the books
When asked about school supports, an overwhelming 43% of Irish parents concluded that school books should be free for children in primary school with a further quarter (24%) compromising that there should be book rental schemes available to students and almost 1 fifth (16%) the government should provide a book allowance.
Speaking of these findings, Mary Burke, Acting Content and Community Editor of RollerCoaster.ie said: “The results of these polls are unsurprising in many ways with parents voicing their concerns and grievances about their children’s education across our discussion boards on RollerCoaster.ie in the past few months. It’s a Catch 22 situation with most parents unable or unwilling to homeschool while also not wanting to put their children’s lives at risk.
“It’s a minefield that so many are facing. Team that with the economic downturn and the high cost of school supplies and books, Irish parents have a lot on their plate. RollerCoaster.ie is here as a resource to keep them up to date on the latest advice and provide them with a community of support.”
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