Still only proposals, says CEO

The Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training says no final plans for the start of the new school year have been confirmed.

This statement has come from Acting Chief Education Officer, Joy Adamson, who was responding to an article in Barbados TODAY.

The article, with the headline New School Plan, states: “When school resumes on September 21, students in Nursery up to Infants B are expected to attend classes half-day while older pupils in primary and secondary school will have a mix of face-to-face and online classes.”

However, Mrs. Adamson said that at this stage these were just proposals and not the final format for classes when school reopens.

“In a section of the Press, there is an article which leads the public to believe that the Acting Chief Education Officer stated final plans for the new school term. As Acting Chief Education Officer, I never indicated that the plans were final.

“The discussion was in an informal setting where options were being discussed. We have had consultations with our stakeholders, the unions, the principals and teachers.

The consultations are still ongoing as we prepare to return the students and the teachers to the classroom on September 21, 2020.

Additional meetings are still scheduled to continue and the dialogue must go on. My ministry, the Ministry of Education Technological and Vocational Training, will inform the public at each stage of the process so that all are aware of how school will look when we do open,” the Acting Chief stated. (Melissa Rollock/BGIS)