AN IRISH student was left in floods of tears after his school told him he wasn't allowed to come back to class without a face mask, despite the fact he's medically exempt from wearing one.
Footage emerged online on Tuesday of a visibly distressed schoolboy outside Dundalk Grammar School in Co. Louth, shortly after being told he wasn't able to return to class and see his friends.
The boy explains that he provided an exemption form he'd received from his doctor, but that the school didn't feel as if it was enough.
"The principal didn't let me in," he says, fighting back tears.
"Why?" Asks the man behind the camera, understood to be the boy's father.
"Because I couldn't wear a mask. I gave an exemption form and all, but he still didn't let me in the school. He said it wasn't good enough and it's from a doctor," the boy replies.
He goes on to say that the principal wasn't satisfied with the amount of detail on the form, so he urged the school to call his doctor to verify everything, but was told that it will take a few days before everything could be checked.
"He said he will call [the doctor] and we said 'can we stay and then can I go to school?' and he said 'No ... this process will take days'.
"They won't let me in school. Even with an exemption, he says an exemption isn't good enough so I don't know what is," he says.
"This is disgusting," the boy's father can be heard saying.
According to online reports this is Dundalk Grammar school refusing a child an education for not wearing a face mask even though he's medically exempt! 👀👀💥 pic.twitter.com/hsNntj2nOz
— k-lo2 (@k_klo224743370) August 31, 2021
Schools across Ireland are reopening this week, and face masks are mandatory for pupils aged 13 or above, unless they have a medical exemption.
It's understood that NPHET are considering lowering the minimum age requirement for face masks in schools, which could mean that primary school children may be forced to wear them.
A decision is expected to be announced this week.
