Private learning institutions saddened by closure of Ursuline Convent School, warn others could follow

Administrators of private schools across the island have described the imminent closure of the 128-year-old Ursuline Convent School as heart-breaking, with one suggesting others could soon follow suit without assistance from Government.

However, although admitting they have had an extremely challenging last few years, most of them said they continued to do well enough to continue operations for now.

On Thursday, the Ursuline School located at Collymore Rock, St Michael, announced it would be closing operations next year.

Noting that “times have changed and the pandemic compounded the challenges we were already facing”, officials said the Catholic school had taken “the painful and hard decision, after consultation with experts and dialogue with the Ministry of Education and the Bishop, to end our educational service here in Barbados by August 2023”.

“We will not be admitting any new students for September 2022,” it said.

Acting Principal at the St Gabriel’s School Alexina Chandler said she was saddened by the news, noting that private schools have also experienced very difficult times, especially over the past two years.

“We are very sorry for what has happened at the Convent . . . . It is heart-breaking to see an institution with such a long history close its doors, but it is not surprising in this economic climate,” she said. Chandler acknowledged that enrollment at St Gabriel’s had dipped, which she said was partly a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects it had on parents.

She explained that in addition to “a lot of anxiety”, there were also “quite a bit of job loss among our parents and so people’s financial position changed”.

Like other schools, St Gabriel’s has had to put payment plans in place for some parents.

Chandler, who has been in her current role since the start of the year, disclosed that the private school has been getting some calls from parents of students at the Ursuline Convent, seeking placement for next year.

“It has been challenging. COVID hit us very hard with all the extra expenses. We had to put in the sanitising stations, we had to put up tents and [other changes]. It has been extremely challenging, but I would say we are in a better position than we were a year or two ago,” said Chandler.

Principal of the Ifill School Akil Ifill, who predicted just over a year ago that private schools could buckle under the impact of the pandemic, told Barbados TODAY he was disheartened but not surprised by the closure of the Ursuline Convent School.

He again warned that other private schools could suffer a similar fate if there was no Government intervention.

“It is difficult to run a school and I don’t think many people understand that. Schools are not set up to make money and because that is the way it goes, it is very difficult for an owner of a business to continue to pay salaries, pay leases and rent, and because education is subsidised in Barbados, it makes it much more difficult for private schools

“So, if private schools are not subsidised by Government, more schools will follow the trend of closing. It is one of those situations where Government has to seriously look at the education sector because they did it with tourism where hoteliers were given subsidies but it wasn’t done for the private schools,” he said.

In the last Estimates, Government provided just over $1.8 million for Assisted Private Schools to provide for the cost of bursaries annually awarded to children. This related only to schools providing special education, including the Learning Centre, Derrick Smith School and Vocational Centre, and the Challenor School.

Barbados TODAY understands that at their last meeting with Ministry of Education officials, several private school principals asked for government support in light of them now being required to implement several measures to safeguard against the spread of COVID-19. This request has reportedly not been answered.

Principal of the 100-year-old St Winifred’s School Kim Lewis said she was “deeply saddened at the news of the pending closure of the Ursuline Convent”.

“We understand the challenges private schools face, particularly within the last three years, and to have such a school with such a long legacy close is very upsetting for everyone. We really do feel for the staff, parents and the students of that school,” said Lewis, who said she has reached out to the principal of the Ursuline Convent School.

She said she has been receiving some queries from worried parents who are now seeking a new institution for their children to attend next year.

“Wherever we can accommodate we will certainly try, keeping in mind that we are in a pandemic and our classroom protocols, but we will help where we can. It is definitely a very sad day for education to have a school like that close,” she said.

In the case of St Winifred’s, Lewis said that over the past few years, the enrollment numbers have fluctuated. However, she said last year there was a slight increase due mainly to the children of persons taking up the Barbados Welcome Stamp offer and some migration of Caribbean nationals to Barbados.

“I don’t think it is ever going to climb back up to the numbers we are used to because there isn’t the number of students. I am not talking only about applications for the beginning of the year but for many classes throughout the school,” said Lewis.

She admitted that St Winifred’s also had to implement special payment schemes on a case-by-case basis to allow parents who were affected by the pandemic to meet their obligations.

“Private schools, I will tell you, honestly have struggled, but I am glad to say that we have really rallied together to come out the other end of the tunnel now that we can be back in face-to-face school,” Lewis said.

She said it would be helpful if Government could provide some support for private learning institutions.

“We are trying to just keep going. Some of us really [do] better than others, but I would say that our school was equally affected and it was just being able to take each term at a time and provide the support that we could,” she said, adding that she hoped the worst has passed.

On the other hand, the 21-year-old Eagles Academy Primary, is reporting an increase in the number of people seeking private education.

“We have seen an increase so we are expecting that come September we will be a bit bigger,” said senior teacher Peggy Rock-Clarke.

She said the Dalkeith learning institution, which was formerly located at Upper Collymore Rock, was not seeing any significant changes in how parents paid school fees.

“The COVID pandemic did not really affect our operation. We had to go on lockdown as everybody else, but as soon as they gave the all-clear, because we are small, we were able to accommodate all the students,” explained Rock-Clarke.

“We have found people interested because in the public schools some children are still doing online education and for some parents that is a difficulty with them having to work and having the children at home. We also have some parents whose children are behind and they want to move them,” she added.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb