HEAD teachers have voiced their deep concern about allowing all primary school children to come back next week.
Many are unhappy with the lateness of the decision - made official after schools closed for the St Patrick's Day holiday.
Unions said they remained to be convinced that the 'road map' for education was safe.
Principals have just two working days to prepare for the return of P4-7s from Monday.
First Minister Arlene Foster told the assembly yesterday that the focus was on bringing pupils back in the safest way possible.
The executive also agreed that all children would resume face-to-face learning on April 12.
P1-3 have been in classrooms since Monday.
Schools have also received letters about plans to introduce regular testing.
While parents welcomed the confirmation of restart dates, unions are concerned.
Gerry Murphy, Northern Secretary of the INTO union, said schools had been told they would be given 10 working days' notice in advance of any changes.
"Instead, our primary schools will have only two working days notice not the 10 they were promised," he said.
"This will further compound the difficulties already being experienced in post-primary schools struggling to come to terms with the additional administrative overload associated with producing centre determined grades. Already stressed teachers and school leaders in post-primary schools will have to now begin putting in place the necessary conditions to facilitate safe learning environments for post-primary students.
"And these already exhausted teachers and school leaders across our system will rise to this latest challenge because they care."
Jacquie White, General Secretary of the Ulster Teachers' Union, said the last thing anyone wanted was to move too far too quickly.
"From initially planning to pull out the P1-3 children to allow exam year post-primary students safely back, we are now being told that all primary school children as well as those exam year students will be back from Monday," she said.
"It's quite a leap and not one we are assured is in the best interests of pupils, teachers, parents and the wider community.
"We still have too many unknowns and we believe more remains to be done to ensure schools are sustainably long-terms Covid-safe environments."
Ms White said politicians needed to be steered only by the scientific evidence.
"A more calculated approach means we could assess its impact before allowing more students into class and thus better manage the situation," she added.
"Our worry is that any recklessness now in getting children back behind desks could trigger another spike in Covid infections and prolong disruption of their education."
Robert Wilson, Regional Officer at the Association of School and College Leaders, said teachers did not want to see a return to a revolving door of schools opening and having to close again.
"Consequently, the cautious approach adopted to bringing back pupils to the classroom across Northern Ireland is welcomed," he said.
"The announcement that all pupils in Years 12 to 14 will face lateral flow tests on their return to the classroom has come as a total surprise to school leaders and comes on the back of a pilot scheme, the success of which they know very little about. Schools have not been consulted about testing and communication on this matter from the education minister has been woefully poor and extremely short on detail. Teachers have been given precious little time to make arrangements for a major logistical operation they had not been previously warned about and have no experience of organising.
"Testing may ultimately help our pupils to safely return to the classroom but we are concerned that rushing it may create more problems than it solves."
NAHT President Graham Gault said while no-one would be happier than school leaders to see primary schools full of children again "we remain deeply concerned about the sustainability of this decision".
"Coming back to face-to-face teaching just to have to isolate again will be damaging for our children, especially if rates of transmission are anything like those seen before Christmas," he said.
"On behalf of our school leaders, I ask the executive what measures they intend to implement to ensure that community transmission is strictly limited? What restrictions will be in place to ensure that we can have all of our primary school children in school in a way that is sustainable?"
Meanwhile, the CCEA exams board has issued revised guidance on how grades will be awarded without GCSEs and A-levels taking place this summer.
Pupils expressed fears over `exams by the back door' saying this was causing great anxiety.
CCEA is sending schools papers in each subject which pupils can sit upon their return.
Some schools have told pupils they will take these assessments next week.
CCEA last night said the tests were "entirely optional" adding that students should only be assessed on what they have been taught.
