The long-awaited return to school plan has been released by the state government, however concerns remain.
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He said ventilation in classrooms and the type of masks provided to teaching staff remained key issues for the union, with the union wanting N95 respirator masks to be provided to teaching staff.
"I think this is a plan to keep schools open even when they're not safe," he said.
"We still have some major concerns that we feel the government is ignoring that need to be addressed before educators return to schools."
Also of concern for the AEU was the additional pressure that Mr Genford feared will be placed on the system when staff members are on sick leave or isolating.
"Go to schools and ask them how easy it is to find relief teachers, they can't," he said.
"I got an email from a principal today who is still six teachers short to start the school year, and then you expect them to find relief teachers on top of that?
"It really shows that the government does not have an accurate understanding of what happens in schools and the conditions of school facilities at the moment."
Concerns for the teaching staff was echoed by disability advocate Kristen Desmond, who said that she feared that the COVID-safe management of students with a disability would fall to principals.
Ms Desmond said she was pleased to see students with a disability at the forefront of the state government's plan for schools, with each student and family to be supported on an individual basis, she had concerns about the pressure this announcement would put on the education sector.
Ms Desmond said that while she welcomed the measures put in place for students with a disability, there would still be families of vulnerable students who chose to keep their children at home and she wanted to see what supports would be offered.
"If they make the decision that their children won't go back until they've had their second vaccination, how do we quickly and easily facilitate them to access virtual learning?," she said.
"If they have a laptop and internet at home that's great, but if they don't have those devices then what is the government and the department going to do to ensure they can access the same quality of learning?"
"We don't want to see students with a disability being segregated and left behind by the system."
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