Tipp parents , students and teachers hold their breath as Cabinet meets today to decide their fate

Parents, students, teachers and ancilliary staff are expecting to find out today if they will be returning to school  in January after the Christmas break.

The Cabinet is meeting today to make vital decisions on even tighter restrictions in light of the Covid19 pandemic with infection rates soaring to unprecedented levels. It is expected that non essential construction work will also cease and further, more severe restrictions will be introduced across all sectors.

However, there have been mixed messages coming from different politicians with some saying the school closures will continue for six weeks, but other saying they will last only for the month of January - once again the message has been anything but clear as spokespersons to continue to sing from different hymnsheets. Some pre and special schools will be permitted to open, it is expected.

School authorities are currently making arrangements for very challenging online teaching in anticipation of a prelonged closure. And, it is likely that reference will be made to the Leaving and Junior Certificate examinations also following the announcement in the UK of the cancelling of GCSE's.

The announcements will be  formally made later today although it is expected that there will be a drip feed of leaks throughout the day, as has been the case for the last nine months or so when such meetings have taken place.