Each day starts with an update from Dr Ashley Bloomfield - the Director-General of Health. He explains things in layman's terms and is easy to understand. Apart from a break over Easter he has spoken to the nation and kept us informed. He engenders confidence and I am happy to have someone like him at the helm. He even put himself onto social media to answer questions from the public. He has become a household name.
The Prime Minster is equally easy to understand and her empathy for people comes thorough strongly. She is showing true leadership.
So where is the Education voice in all this?
Am I missing something here? Am I not looking in the right place?
We had one day with the Minister of Education last week updating what was being done in the education arena.
We always talk about parents being the biggest stakeholders in their children's education - so who is speaking to them?
I know that the Secretary of Education, Iona Holsted is communicating with Principals via email. There is also information available here on the official MoE site. But I think a more human touch would build public confidence and ally the many fears people have.
But where was the public voice of Education today on the first day of term 2?
Where was the Secretary of Education or the Minister to talk to parents about their new role today?
Where is the message for the teachers and the extra care and attention they are taking in this uncharted territory of delivering remote learning?
In their absence I hope that Principals and BoT's are picking up the ball and working on communicating and reassuring people of the steps that are being taken to try to carry education on through this trying time.
The Minister did have a Q&A session live on Facebook tonight. But what happens if you are not a FB user? Or you do use FB but don't "like" the Minister?
I think being out in the public domain today would have been critical to making connections with the public, to be reassuring and to build confidence.
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