CORONAVIRUS —
SCHOOLS
467. Hon DONNA FARAGHER to the Minister for Education and
Training:
I refer to the minister's
press release of 14 May 2020 titled ''All WA students to return to
school from next week'', and the statement that whole-school assemblies,
camps and interschool activities will still not be permitted.
(1) Subject to
health advice, are these activities expected to be permitted as part of the
phase 3 easing of restrictions?
(2) If not, when
does the minister expect to make decisions on when such activities will be
permitted?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1)–(2) Existing
restrictions on activities will be progressively reviewed based on the advice
of the Chief Health Officer.
I advise members in the house,
because I know they will be dealing with questions from their constituents
about these matters, that there are elements of the return to school whereby
certain restrictions are still in place. That has been done on the basis of
health advice from the Chief Health Officer. Our intention is to get schools
back to as normal as possible, as soon as possible. Nothing in what we have
done so far is perfect, because health
advice requires us to put certain restrictions in place, but as soon as we can
lift those restrictions, we will. I am delighted to advise the house
that I have just been sent a text. Attendance today is 90.6 per cent across the
state, which is sensational.