From Monday, all teachers in New Zealand must have received at least the first dose of the Covid vaccine to continue working on school grounds, with unvaccinated staff committing a criminal offence if they try to enter the classroom. In addition, the Ministry of Education has recommended that schools should ring the police if any unvaccinated teacher turns up to work. The Mail Australia has the story.
The advice, published in the Ministry’s gazette on Thursday, tells school leaders that if they, or any education staff, turn up to work on Monday unvaccinated against Covid, they will be committing an offence.
The advice being given to schools follows the ‘no jab, no job ‘policy that was enacted by the New Zealand Government last month.
“The staff member will be committing an infringement offence if they have not had their first dose of the Covid vaccine and are onsite November 15th. This means they may be liable for a fine”, the advice read.
“If staff do turn up on site after this date, we encourage school leaders to deal with this in the usual manner you would if other inappropriate people were to turn up on site.
“If you feel your safety or the safety of ākonga (pupils or students) or other staff is compromised, you could consider contacting the police”.
The advice also stated that an unvaccinated person could no longer work on-site at a school without a valid medical exemption, or a written letter from a doctor outlining an exemption request has been sought.
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