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Ashfall causes delayed start to school

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By Randy Bennett

With a major cleanup effort to be undertaken at schools across the island to remove significant amounts of ash, the resumption of school has been pushed back by one week.

The announcement was made this afternoon by Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training, Santia Bradshaw, who said both face-to-face classes and online learning, which were scheduled to resume next Tuesday would now begin on April 26.

Primary school students in Classes 3 and 4, as well as secondary school students in fifth and sixth form, were originally expected to resume face-to-face classes on April 20.

However, Bradshaw said due to the ongoing challenges facing the island with regards to the ash dumped by the La Soufriere volcano it would be unrealistic for school to start in five days.

Additionally, classes at the Barbados Vocational Training Board and the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology have also been delayed by a week.

Those students of the Barbados Community College (BCC) enrolled in health sciences, physical education, general education, technology, fine arts and crafts are also set to resume on April 26, while all others will continue with online classes.

The education minister said both the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) and the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) were in favour of the postponement of classes at this time.

“In light of the extent and nature of the works which are now going to have to be undertaken across the school plants, I want to advise that for Term III, this will now commence for all public, nursery, primary and secondary schools on Monday, April 26. The commencement of all online classes will also be delayed by one week,” Bradshaw outlined during a live press conference.

“Private schools as you know, take their guidance usually from the ministry in respect of when we start our term but we also appreciate that they too will have to determine their state of readiness and they will advise the Ministry of Education accordingly.”

Bradshaw said before the ash descended on the island the final touches were being put to the 104 Government-run nursery, primary, secondary and tertiary institutions and stakeholders were looking forward to the start of the new term.

Instead, the minister said the “ash was everywhere” and thorough cleaning of schools including roofs, guttering and downpipes, air conditioning units and solar panels would now have to be done.

She said even though ancillary staff had already started cleaning up, experts would be hired to ensure a comprehensive job was delivered.

“In the same way that households and other government departments, the private entities have been assessing the impact of the ongoing volcanic eruptions of the La Soufriere volcano and the subsequent ashfall across Barbados, the Ministry of Education, its technical management units, our principals, chairman of the boards of management and other ministry officials have also been carrying out their own assessment of our school plants over the course of the last few days.

“Our findings have revealed there are blankets of ash covering every building and every corridor. There is ash which has entered the classroom through in particular, the breeze blocks and truthfully where they may have been a broken window pane or even a louvre window, the ash has entered the classroom and of course, that now has to be cleaned thoroughly,” Bradshaw said.

“No school has been spared from the impact of the ash just as no household across Barbados has been spared.”

Bradshaw said it was still too early to determine if the delay would have an effect on this year’s Common Entrance Examination or if the duration of the term would be adjusted.

The minister said in the event students were in classes and the island was affected by plumes of ash there were emergency protocols already in place for evacuation.

(randybennett@barbadostoday.bb)

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