I suspect that we will see changes to this stance as the numbers rise exponentially.
However I have to admit that their desire to maintain students’ education even in such difficult times is very admirable.
It has more to do with the economic impact I reckon. Closing schools basically causes a lot of problems for the workforce, because people need to stay home to look after their kids. Even worse, some parents will leave their kids with elderly relatives.
As devastating as this will be, I hope it will encourage future governments to do more to account for disasters. Current governments have been cutting vital services from many Departments in the pursuit of surpluses (which isnt a bad thing, but it shouldnt be the sole pursuit). The general public generally dont realise that most Departments operate under an "efficiency dividend", which means they have to show savings year on year. So effectively, those surpluses (not to mention projects like the Sydney Light Rail) are funded by cuts to things like healthcare, the RFS etc. Now we are really paying the price for this "cult of surplus".