Two primary schools will reopen on Wednesday after remaining closed for the completion of cleaning following remedial works. Another plant will not be available for face-to-face teaching until next week.
Giving an update on the first day of the 2020-2021 school year, Acting Chief Education Officer Joy Adamson said the St Philip and St Stephen’s Primary Schools will reopen their doors on Wednesday, while the students of St Paul’s will engage in online learning for the remainder of the week to accommodate further cleaning and remedial works.
“What we have decided, we worked along with the principal, is that there will be online teaching for the St Paul’s Primary School students for the rest of the week in the morning half. That would allow the teachers to then go to the school plant to set up, so that school can start from Monday, face-to-face,” Adamson said.
Meanwhile, the Chief Education Officer also announced that the St Matthew’s, St Martin’s Mangrove and the Half Moon Fort Primary Schools will be ready for students tomorrow.
Adamson said while the ministry received reports that operations ran smoothly at schools. She noted that the main complaint was that there were delays at the gates where students were required to receive temperature checks and be sanitized before being allowed on the compound.
However, she said students and teachers were generally happy to be back in the classroom environment.
Adamson, who visited primary schools, while other education officers went to other institutions, said during the day she has spoken to the presidents of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) and the Barbados Union of Teachers and they both gave favourable reports.
“We have had no adverse reports, except we had to close one school early so that we could have some remedial work completed at that location, but everything should be ready for tomorrow,” she said.
Also speaking at the press briefing, Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw said that following consultations with stakeholders, including parents, while everything has gone well on the first day of school, the ministry is working assiduously to ensure that “we get things right over the next few days and weeks”.
“We regret that there are some schools where there has been a delayed start. In many instances, which I would have alluded to last week, obviously we had some challenges with the contractors and in particular with the ETMU [Education Technical Management Unit] being able to ensure that the scope of works was done in a timely manner to allow contractors to complete their works on time.
“And that notwithstanding, we have put the necessary measures in place to ensure that school can recommence as quickly as possible. I know that there have been some concerns about the distancing in the schools and obviously schools are working together to get the minor details right in relation to safe distancing. Within the course of the next two weeks, we hope to be able to have parent monitors in place across the various schools.
The minister said there are still some challenges that must be corrected and adjustments that must be fine-tuned, as the ministry has been receiving feedback from stakeholders.
Bradshaw said the ministry has been working with principals to address parents’ concerns as it relates to having more than one child attending an institution and trying to balance the various timetables.
The minister also added that the configuration and deployment of devices to students continue to be an ongoing process.
“We have looked at the various schools and tried to identify schools that are large that may require additional support and I think that there are a few that are over the complement of 500 on a school roll, so obviously they would have an additional complement of support. We have been working with the ancillary staff to be able to better deploy them across the system,” the minister added.
Bradshaw noted that while there are concerns about the presence of vendors outside schools, these entrepreneurs, as well as those selling items on the school’s compound, have been urged to move in the direction of selling healthy snacks and drinks to students.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb
