The implications of allowing teachers not vaccinated for Covid back into Tasmania’s classrooms are being processed across the community.
Around 20 teachers who have been off work on 6 months full pay for not complying with Covid vaccination requirements can return to schools.
Disability advocate Kristen Desmond telling Tasmania Talks it raises some contradictions.
“Anyone who works NDIS particpants are required to be vaccinated, we have NDIS participants in our schools, not just support schools but in our mainstream schools, so why is there a different level of requirement for teachers.”
As the state government scrambles to find enough teachers for the system, she wonders just how many unvaccinated will end up in classrooms.
“It may only be 20 teachers now that are coming back, but moving forward they (Education Department) are saying they are not going to be asking for vaccination status, so if they have got issues around staffing they are going to try and get as many teachers in as they can and we won’t know how many of those are unvaccinated.”
