Following advocacy from QCEC, the Education Minister Grace Grace has established a committee to examine the issue of ventilation in Queensland schools. 

There has been some recent media attention on this issue as well in light of the ongoing pandemic and the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 among young people.  

I have been invited to join the committee as a representative of the Catholic sector and all sectors will be represented on the committee. 

This is an important issue for schools and the first step is to establish whether schools have inadequate ventilation and, if so, what might be a proportionate response.  

In Queensland the design of our schools is mostly suited to our tropical and sub-tropical climates so we do not suffer from some of the ventilation issues experienced by more enclosed school designs in southern states.  

Nevertheless, it is important for the ongoing health and wellbeing of our school communities that we explore these issues and, if necessary, develop and implement appropriate guidelines and standards for our Queensland school context.