The government’s announcement that the reduction in the permitted size of indoor gatherings from 50 to six will not apply to higher education institutions, College has announced.
In an email to students today – signed by Provost Patrick Prendergast and Áine Kelly, the chair of the resumption of teaching working group – College said that the Department of Higher Education had confirmed that the measure is “not intended to apply in the case of the re-opening of higher education”.
“Therefore we are continuing to plan for as much face-to-face small group teaching and learning as possible”, the email read.
The email said that students “should continue to assume that you will have an element of face-to-face teaching as part of your programme in Semesters 1 and 2” and will be informed “if the situation changes”.
The email also added that students travelling from abroad to Ireland will have to restrict their movements for 14 days, and asked that students return to Ireland no later than September 13th so that they will be able to attend College at the start of term.
In new guidelines for higher-education institutions, the government said that while the two-metre rule should be maintained “under all circumstances possible”, there will be instances where “teaching cannot be delivered while maintaining 2m distance between students”.
“Under such circumstances”, the guidelines said, “the distance between student seats or workstations may be reduced to (but not less than) 1m”.
Staff are advised to wear face shields, visors or other protective equipment – provided by the universities – if the social distancing rule is relaxed.
The government also recommends “the use of cloth face coverings in indoor settings where adequate physical distance cannot be maintained”.
