The anger from one of Australia's most senior education leaders is raw and palpable.

Key points: Teacher unions want governments to facilitate work-from-home arrangements for vulnerable teachers

Teacher unions want governments to facilitate work-from-home arrangements for vulnerable teachers There have been reports of teachers being abused by parents because schools are staying open

There have been reports of teachers being abused by parents because schools are staying open Governments say they are following medical advice in refusing to close schools

Australia's teachers want greater respect as they keep educating 4 million students while a dangerous virus spreads across the country.

Keeping schools open allows health sector workers to keep treating the sick, prevents the elderly and vulnerable from being placed at risk as babysitters, and saves others from having to give up work to care for children.

"Teachers and principals have for quite some time borne all sorts of denigration and attacks from certain elements, certain quarters in our society," said NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos.

"I hope that when we get out of this crisis, as we will, some of those critics remember that teachers and principals have been asked to shoulder a lot more responsibility over and above many others in our community."

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As well as being educators, teachers have taken on a new role: keeping Australian kids hygienic and virus-free.

"Beyond their concern for their immediate and extended families, teachers and principals are also expected to acquire considerable responsibility with respect to the health of students and the broader community," Mr Gavrielatos said.

'Disturbing' reports of teacher abuse

For some teachers, the reward has been abuse.

It was starkly brought into light when deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly revealed his sister, a teacher, phoned him to reveal parents had lashed out at her.

"My sister is a teacher. I heard from her disturbing things about being abused by parents," Dr Kelly said.

"We are all in this together.

"It is not OK to be abusing people who are teaching our kids."

Some teachers, and those close to them, have taken to social media to vent their frustrations.

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Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan praised the teachers and principals for their hard work.

"I would like to send this message out to all those principals and teachers who are out there educating our children at the moment — can I say to you, thank you for what you're doing.

"Because it's incredibly important, at this time, that we listen to this medical advice and that we take it," he said.

'We want urgent action'

Neither private nor public teacher unions are calling for schools to be closed, but want some members to be better protected at work.

Central to teacher anger is health advice encouraging vulnerable groups, including those over 70, pregnant woman, new parents and those with chronic conditions to isolate while teachers with those conditions have been required in classrooms.

Teachers would like these educators to be allowed to work from home, Mr Gavrielatos said.

"We want urgent action from the departments in order to look after the needs of that more vulnerable group of members and we hope to get a response from them as soon as possible," he said.

The ABC understands the request is one of many made to governments from public sector unions that have staff dealing with the public.

It is understood state departments are considering the request and some allowance may be made for immunosuppressed staff.

State officials are discussing these matters with each other daily and are aiming to act in unison where possible.

Lack of soap a problem, union says

Private sector unions are also calling on their employers in the Catholic sector to make arrangements for at-risk teachers.

At one Catholic school in New South Wales yesterday, 300 out of 1,000 student stayed home while frustrated teachers were on the job.

In an open letter, the Independent Education Union of Australia (IEUA) also called for vulnerable teachers to be given permission to work from home.

The union has 75,000 members nationwide and they've asked the Catholic sector for a number of measures they say will allow them to carry out the Prime Minister's determination for schools to be open.

It is particularly concerned about a lack of soap and sanitation and wants daily temperature checks for students, as happens overseas.

"Systems must implement comprehensive hygiene/safety measures including daily temperature-taking of all students with contactless thermometers and provision of sanitiser/soap products for all staff and students," the letter says.

Australia was faster than others: Minister

The requests come as state premiers and the federal Government insist schools will stay open in the face of pressure from parents.

Mr Tehan said the Government's early movement to deal with the pandemic meant the medical advice was it could keep schools open.

That was a key difference between Australia and the UK, where schools were being shut down, he said.

"They didn't take the early action that we took," Mr Tehan said.

"They're getting very different medical advice to what we're getting."

Meanwhile, in a letter to members on Wednesday, the Australian Education Union's Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said teachers were "rightly concerned" that health officials had not provided enough guidance on how to safely practice social distancing in a school setting

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said he understood why there was anxiety about schools remaining open, but reiterated that governments were following the best available advice.

"And we get into a very, very dangerous place when governments start ignoring consistent and consensus medical advice."