As students returned to classrooms this week, schools around Greater Bendigo are struggling to follow COVIDsafe guidelines with some unable to supply RAT kits to all students.
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While it was reported six million RATs were delivered to schools by Monday - enough for a fortnight, with 14 million tests to arrive over the first four weeks of the term, some schools in the area have not been so lucky.
With students and staff being asked to complete a test at least twice a week before attending school, a number of parents have voiced concerns as some students have missed out.
"School is back on Wednesday and prep to grade two children won't be tested at this stage due to test shortages," one parent told the Bendigo Advertiser.
A spokesperson from the Department of Education said they had been made aware of the "warehouse error" that caused the shortage at the school and more tests had been dispatched as a priority.
Catholic Education Sandhurst executive director Paul Desmond confirmed a number of schools in the area had been affected.
"There are a number of Catholic schools in the Bendigo area that did not receive their full allocation of RAT kits," he said.
"Schools have logged the number of outstanding kits with the Victorian Education Procurement team and we are working with the government agency to rectify the shortage as soon as possible.
"The Minister for Education was quoted yesterday as saying he was aware that not all schools received their full allocation and the government is committed to rectifying the shortfall in a timely manner.
"While I understand parent anxiety, we appreciate that this is a massive undertaking and we will continue to work with the authorities to make sure every Catholic school in the Sandhurst Diocese receives the RAT kits as soon as possible."
Despite this, some schools in Greater Bendigo had received multiple shipments in the lead up to the beginning of term one.
Bendigo Senior Secondary College principal Dale Pearce confirmed his school had received the right amount of tests.
"The deliveries to state schools often come through in multiple batches so we received a shipment on Friday, Saturday and one again on Monday," he said.
"They've come from different suppliers and different couriers, but we have all of ours which is good.
"I understand, from contacting the year seven to 10 schools on Tuesday afternoon that I think now they're also okay."
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