The ACT government is confident its remote learning technology will hold up as tens of thousands of public school students log on to online classes on Tuesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It comes as the education directorate races to resolve after-hours care arrangements for students who are attending one of its nine hub schools in Term 2.
But they won't be ready for many children on Tuesday, meaning parents have been forced to find other arrangements.
The first day of remote education in Queensland and South Australia was plagued by technical problems, with numerous reports of online learning platforms crashing after students rushed to log on.
A spokeswoman for the ACT education directorate said it was confident there would be no such problems in Canberra on Tuesday, noting the technology had worked well when it was called upon during the "pupil-free" period at the end of Term 1.
The directorate will already have its hands full co-ordinating families of students attending one of the nine hub schools.
The chosen schools are Amaroo, Caroline Chisholm, Charles Weston, Gordon, Kingsford Smith, Majura, Mawson, Maribyrnong and Red Hill.
The ACT's four public special schools will also remain open.
The directorate has arranged a dedicated bus service to transport students from their normal school to their hub schools each morning.
However, the bus service won't be up and running until Wednesday.
READ MORE:
Parents have been asked to take their child directly to their hub school on Tuesday morning to sign registration and consent forms.
Among the biggest headaches for the directorate in recent days has been attempting to co-ordinate after-hours care arrangements for students attending the supervised sites.
Students will receive supervision at their hub school between 9am and 3pm.
Across the nine hub schools, four separate providers are contracted to deliver after-hours care.
Once the bus service starts, the situation will be relatively straightforward for students who are enrolled with providers still operating after-hours programs, even if that provider does not operate one linked to their hub school.
The dedicated bus service will be able to ferry students back to their normal school - and after-school service - after 3pm.
It is more complex in situations where students are not enrolled with a provider.
An education directorate spokeswoman said the directorate was working with providers and the federal government to overcome "regulatory restrictions" and open up extra places for new enrolments.
"We are working to ensure before- and after-hours care is available for everyone who needs it," she said.
The spokeswoman said she was hopeful there would be an update "soon". She said the directorate appreciated that this was a "challenging time and an imperfect short-term solution".
Do you know more? Contact Dan Jervis-Bardy at dan.jervis-bardy@canberratimes.com.au
- For information on COVID-19, please go to the ACT Health website or the federal Health Department's website.
- You can also call the Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080
- If you have serious symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, call Triple Zero (000)
Our COVID-19 news articles relating to public health and safety are free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support. If you're looking to stay up to date on COVID-19, you can also sign up for our twice-daily digest here.