The country’s largest medical college has joined a growing group of doctors urging Australia’s governments to open schools on time, warning of “detrimental” effects on children if face-to-face learning is delayed. 

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) has called for a national approach to the issue, pleading for school closures to be used as a last resort even in the face of surging infections from the Omicron wave. 

“We have been through COVID-19 for long enough to know that proper access to learning is vital to the physical, social and psychological wellbeing of students,” RACP President Professor John Wilson said in a statement. 

“That’s why we need a co-ordinated national plan for face-to-face learning, to minimise disruptions to school and ensure that children can access quality education.”