Teachers unions blast COVID test requirement for schoolkids after Sukkot

19 September 2021, 2:35 pm

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Secretary-general of the Teachers Union Yaffa Ben-David attends a Knesset Education, Culture, and Sports Committee meeting ahead of the opening of the new school year, August 5, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Yaffa Ben David, head of the national Teachers Union, threatens to appeal to the High Court of Justice, after the coronavirus cabinet voted to require students in pre-K through 6th grade to present a negative coronavirus antigen test when returning to school after vacation.

“Someone here has it mixed up,” Ben David tells the Knesset Education Committee. “Administrators and kindergarten teachers aren’t bouncers or coronavirus inspectors; they are educators and they build their relationships on trust.”

A union representing kindergarten teachers also blasts the measure, saying “we are are not police officers and our role is not prevent entry to kindergarten. The state must come to its senses, quickly.”