Education Minister Dr Alex Allinson said he took the decision to continue with the planned closure of the island’s schools during what would’ve been the TT fortnight.

Since March, all but nine primary schools in the island have been closed.

Those that remained open, along with the secondary schools, have operated as hub schools for vulnerable children and those whose parents are key workers.

It was announced at the start of this month that the schools would close from Monday June 1 to Friday June 12. Dr Allinson explained that all school closures are confirmed at least two years in advance of the first day of the academic year they fall in.

Dr Allinson said that the closure of schools was discussed at meetings in April and May with the DESC senior leadership team and the unions after school staff volunteered to keep the hubs open during Easter and on bank holidays.

He added: ’In response to suggestions from all interested parties, I made the decision not to cancel the school holiday and details of the decision were included in a daily update to all primary and secondary head teachers that afternoon.’

The Minister also apologised for an technical issue that meant some headteachers didn’t receive that email until the next morning.

Communication

Ms Edge said that there had been a ’total lack of communication’ with teachers and called on Dr Allinson to improve this going forward.

However, he denied this, saying: ’I don’t think there has been a total breakdown at all.’ Dr Allinson asked Ms Edge to provide example of where this happened.

She said there were still issues with the teaching unions being informed of ongoing changes and asked him to commit to ensuring they know what will be announced before any changes to education is announced at a press briefing.

Dr Allinson said: ’I can absolutely confirm that before there are any changes, we will try to communicate those changes with all members of staff and whichever union they are a member of, or if they are not a member of union.’

He also restated that his decision to continue with the TT half-term was announced a month before it was due to happen.