Unions all for classes again once COVID-19 situation permits

The Ministry of Education’s decision to commence the Hilary term on January 10, 2022 with online instruction is receiving support from the island’s two major teachers’ unions.

Both president of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) Mary Ann Redman and general secretary of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Herbert Gittens have backed the ministry’s call amid the presence of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron in Barbados.

This decision comes a day after Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kenneth George confirmed a single case of the variant on island confirmed by the Caribbean Public Health Agency Laboratory.

In response today the ministry issued a release that the second term, scheduled to begin on January 4, would be delayed by a week and that principals, staff, students and parents should continue to prepare for the phased return to face-to-face school, with the new proposed date on January 24.

Redman in an interview with Barbados TODAY said her union was in full agreement with the continued online instruction at this point.  While she acknowledged the need for children to return to the school plants, the union leader maintained that due to the present reality, virtual school was the only real choice.

“We have a lot of members too that have comorbidities and we know that lots of children carry the virus even though that they themselves might not be ill. I know that parents want to get back their children into schools, that is clear, but realistically you can’t do so at the risk of overwhelming your medical services. The children were out – and this is a question we have to ask ourselves – to what extent would our experience with Delta been worse if children were already back out in schools? Our health system was almost overwhelmed just a few months ago and the children were at home . . . we forget very quickly,” she said.

Highlighting the issue of learning deficits resulting from the lost teaching time, Redman believed that when things return to normalcy, creative initiatives will have to be put in place to deal with the problem. She said that the BSTU had put forward recommendations to the ministry, which included an extended period both at the primary and secondary level for children over the next two to three years, in addition to the introduction of a shift system in schools. The latter could accommodate more students in the school day when face-to-face- teaching is possible again, she added. She gave the example of 8-12 and 1-5 shifts with some provision made for sanitization in between shifts.

“Of course, that would take a total re-organisation of the schools’ timetable and both of those recommendations would mean that you have to increase your teaching complement. . . . The whole thing about this is we cannot approach efforts at dealing with the challenges of COVID as we normally approach challenges in ‘normal’ circumstances because there is nothing normal about COVID. Therefore, we have to start thinking in ways that are ‘outside the box’ and come up with recommendations and possible solutions to deal with these anomalous circumstances that we are in. Most importantly too, we have to be able to evaluate them and where they are not working, either amend or change entirely,” Redman explained.

The BUT’s Gittens in addressing the proposed January 24 phased return to face-to-face school, said his organisation supports the re-opening of schools but only if it is done safely.

He said: “The discussions will continue, the BUT will continue to work with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Wellness. All the stakeholders will determine at the right time if the conditions are safe for reopening. I believe that the 24th is a possible date that is set but it is not a definite date because discussions will have to continue and the conditions that exist at the time would be used to determine whether or not schools can reopen.”

Included in the ministry’s roadmap to reopening schools was the goal of at least a 70 per cent vaccination rate for the staff of each school. Records indicate that about 10,000, or less than half of the approximately 21,000 children in secondary schools, have been vaccinated.

“I believe that most persons would want to see schools reopened but . . .  under very strict and safe conditions and the BUT will support reopening once it is safe to do so and that also will depend on the various benchmarks that were outlined in the roadmap that is currently and still being discussed for the reopening of schools,” Gittens added.
(KC)