#BTEditorial – Let’s get those supplies in all schools

They aren’t simply empty words when people repeatedly say that COVID-19 has brought unprecedented and unimaginable challenges. However, as a people we have to swiftly learn how to adapt to this “new normal”. After all our lives literally depend on it.

That’s why it was disheartening for us to learn through our back page story of Tuesday, September 29, that many schools were still without essential items for sanitisation because they hadn’t receive grants from the Ministry of Education.

President of the Association of Public Primary Schools Principals, Dr. Hyacinth Harris, said that the beginning of the school term and the transitioning period had been “a difficult process thus far because many of the resources that they have asked for are not forthcoming”.

The principal explained that the schools had received limited supplies of alcohol and masks for students and staff, and that other resources most of the schools had been asking for had not as yet been provided.

Dr. Harris said: “We are hoping that these grants will be disbursed as soon as possible because unless we have some money, it is going to be difficult to function as we would want to, especially since we are going to need to be continuously sanitising the plant and so on.”

We wonder why Dr Harris seems to be a voice in the wilderness. Why has the issue of lack of supplies in schools not been highlighted by the other unions? Are they not affected? What is the position of Mary Redman’s Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union, Pedro Shepherd’s Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) and Shone Gibbs’ Barbados National Council of Parent Teacher Associations (BNCPTA) on this important issue?

Certainly, events unfolding over the weekend should cause those unions and the Government to give this critical issue the much-needed attention it should be afforded.

In two separate press conferences we were told that a family of six inclusive of a student at The Ellerslie School was infected at the time. Since then another family member, ironically a student of The Ellerslie School, also tested positive. The Ministry of Education has closed the school for 14 days and a “rigorous contact tracing effort” is being carried out by the Ministry of Health.

This revelation is very worrisome.

Ironically, the students and their family members contracted the deadly virus through no fault of their own. It was a family member, a housekeeper, who came in contact with her employer, a national who returned from Britain.

Yesterday, Acting Chief Medical Officer Kenneth George issued a statement advising Barbadians to stay calm.

George said: “As of now, the only educational institution we have advised that should be closed is The Ellerslie School. We have seen nothing so far that would warrant any other teaching institution taking action that keeps students away from classes at this time.”

Since the announcements of the infected students, the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus asked all students who were in contact with students of The Ellerslie School to stay home for one week.

Meanwhile, principal of St Stephen’s Primary issued a note last Sunday night advising students who have “siblings or relatives living in the same household” as The Ellerslie School students to stay home for the next two weeks. That note was rescinded. On Monday morning a new one was issued which stated that it was not intended to cause panic and that all students were welcome to attend school.

A situation of this magnitude is bound to cause panic and worry. While ideally there is no place for panic when dealing with this pandemic, some things are easier said than done.

The reality is if a single student, teacher, janitor, guard or grounds worker at a school contracts the virus the entire school body is at risk. That has to be the thinking of the other institution heads who decided to take matters in their own hands.

This is why we agree wholeheartedly with the comments made by principal of Combermere School Joseph Maynard on the back page of our Monday, October 5th edition.

Combermere had just received a number of sanitizing dispensers from Consumers Guarantee Insurance when the principal said: “They [students] take the buses and they interact with each other once they leave the school environment. So it really is a concern. We are just hoping and praying that the situation is contained . . . There are protocols from the Ministry [of Education] but we also have our own protocols within the school. So it is important because just one slip and we can have an even greater problem on our hands.”

We have heard a lot of vulnerable people but what of vulnerable places? A school is indeed a vulnerable place in this COVID-19 environment. Students inevitably mix and mingle. They interact with each other at every stage from primary school to secondary to tertiary level. Parents and teachers alike have a hell of a task on their hands preaching the importance of social distancing and sanitising.

But no school in Barbados should become a hotbed for COVID-19, dengue fever or any other outbreak or illness simply because the Ministry of Education is not doing what it is tasked to do.

We need those grants in all schools. We need all schools fully equipped with the necessary sanitising supplies in order to keep the staff and student body well equipped and protected.

We know that the economic fallout from the pandemic has been catastrophic but we also call on all of corporate Barbados to step up, follow the lead of CGI and others and do their part as well.