Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, held a virtual meeting with all Regional Executive Officers and Regional Education Officers to discuss plans for the eventual re-opening of schools.
In attendance were Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Hutson; Permanent Secretary, Alfred King; the Assistant Chief Education Officers for Nursery, Primary and Secondary; all District Education Officers and the Chief Planning Officer Nicola Johnson.
The objective of the meeting was to determine the level of preparations each region had for the eventual re-opening of schools.
Grades 10 and Eleven 11 students were considered for the first group of students to return to in class learning as they would need more time in the classroom to complete School-Based Assessments (SBA) for CXC and CAPE examinations in 2021.
The Minister stressed the importance of schools being prepared to safely receive both students and teachers once they are approved for re-opening by the Ministry of Health.
Every school should have running water, adequate toilets and other related features made available.
Currently works are underway at schools across the country to install additional sinks at the entrances and within the schools. Additional toilets are being built; COVID-19 guidelines signs are being placed around the schools and the compounds are being weeded and cleaned.
The issue of students at schools with dormitories being adequately facilitated while still observing the COVID-19 social distancing guideline was also discussed in the meeting.
Minister Manickchand acknowledged that these undertakings are expensive but noted that the National Budget did cater for this approach in addressing the situation. She also said that the ongoing work had to be accelerated and efficiently managed to ensure the safety of students, teachers and other stakeholders once schools were reopened.
