Face-to-face classes ‘mission-critical’

A senior University of the West Indies academic is supporting Government’s efforts to get children back into the classroom in the shortest possible time.

In fact, Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social and Economic Studies Professor Don Marshall is suggesting that even if the result is another spike in COVID-19 cases, the island’s children simply cannot continue to fall behind.

He said, the education of this country’s children in a face-to-face environment, is one of the mission-critical challenges facing the newly re-elected government.

“I applaud the government for tackling this as an early and important issue and I do believe the unions are well intentioned, in terms of seeking to have this resolved in a way that is maximally safe for all,” said Professor Marshall.

“But I think realistically, we’ve got to take a tough decision on this one because there will be some spread, some spike following the return to school however staggered, but they have to overcome that and see what the new normal will look like. Children really have to go back to school,” he reiterated.

While the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training and principals appear ready to return to the classroom, many teachers and some parents are calling for a more cautious approach.

But Professor Marshall declared: “We can’t have a situation right now, where the narrative, even shared among the teachers’ unions, is that with everyday of online schooling somebody is being left behind. That can’t be allowed to persist.

“I applaud the Ministry of Education and the Government for pushing ahead with that even as we’re in the midst of a constitutional challenge.” (KS)