Private option

Local private schools are reporting a significant increase in applications ahead of the new school term, despite early concerns about the economic fallout of COVID-19 and its potential impact on enrollment.

Several principals and school administrators are instead receiving applications from parents desirous of removing their children from the public system in favour of much smaller and controlled environments.

Despite expressing confidence in their ability to implement a blended approach to learning, most of the private institutions contacted by Barbados TODAY are opting for a full face-to-face return to class prior to the September 21 date announced for public schools. They are also prepared to implement full online classes if the country’s coronavirus situation worsens.

Teachers at St Winifred’s, where classes run from nursery to the secondary level for example, have returned to school since Monday to start planning week ahead of a September 14 return to teaching. Principal Kim Lewis told Barbados TODAY that classes would commence in limited numbers to monitor the success of new protocols. All students will be back on the compound by Thursday, the 17th, observing physical distancing, wearing masks and frequent sanitization, but students can only interact with others in their year groups.

“We have the space and we planned it out very carefully so that during the day, cohorts are assigned certain areas of the school to eat and/or to hang out. This means that we will also have a lot more supervision and the reason we are rolling it out so slowly is so that the children can learn it,” said Lewis.

“For all groups, we removed any extra furniture out of the rooms if it isn’t a priority, including shelves, filing cabinets, and those sorts of things to access all of the floor space for students to sit. That perhaps was particularly important at the primary and secondary levels, because our classes are small and we wanted everything to fit,” she further explained.

When asked about enrollment, the principal declared that the numbers, which on average are in the range of 570 students, remain consistent with that of last term, but numerous new applications are being considered.

“We also have had a lot of applications from the public secondary schools because parents are so concerned and they want to put them here. Basically we got the reputation as the school that did the online learning best and I was kind of proud to hear that. So as parents have been talking to each other, we have been inundated with applications from many schools for this term,” she said, before adding, “but I have only accepted as many as I can manage because I have to keep proper distancing in my classrooms.”

Principal of the Rock Christian School Deborah Goodman and Chairman of the East Caribbean Conference of Seventh Day Adventists’ Education Committee Ken Reeves have both reported similar trends.

“We have not been adversely affected. People who left would have been leaving prior to COVID, but we keep getting applications and we don’t have a final number because we are still doing interviews and assessments for new students because parents still want their children in the private schools. Those who we had, we have retained, which is a pleasant surprise,” Goodman reported.

When asked about the situation at the Seventh Day Adventist Primary and Secondary Schools, Reeves said: “We are going to be full. We are definitely going to be full. We have returning students and a lot of new students. The principals are going to be giving us the exact numbers in about a week or so, but they are saying it is very encouraging and every week registration has been going on.”

In the case of the Rock Christian, a full return to classes is expected, while at the Adventist Schools, students will have a choice between face-to-face and online instruction.

The coronavirus situation has put a damper on the rollout of dozens of extracurricular activities at St Winifred’s and The Rock Christian, which both pride themselves in providing a holistic experience for students.

“The focus right now is to just get the schooling done and at some point, we will see how we can get that done . . .  it is sad and it is very hard . . .  We even had sailing at one point last year, and that will come again, but we will do things in baby steps for now,” Lewis vowed.
(kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb)