Education Minister Priya Manickchand says schools have only reopened for face-to-face interaction for Grades 10, 11 and 12 and all private schools must abide by this mandate.
The minister made this statement amid allegations of unauthorized re-opening of rooms for the interaction of other grades in some private schools. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health established guidelines for the reopening of schools for students who were due to write the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Education and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination in 2021, and students in Technical and Vocational Education and Training and those who registered at Practical Instruction Centers.
“Other than the levels we have announced; fourth, fifth and sixth forms or Degrees, Eleven and Twelve, no school is allowed to reopen beyond those levels … Currently, it is unsafe and unhealthy for those schools reopen. “
The minister said that these regulations are guided by science and statistics and are enforced as a matter of public health protection.
“I know that many private schools claim to have space for social distance properly and they have the means to ensure their students wear masks and wash their hands [but] we cannot allow private schools to do what public schools cannot.
“We do not have the capacity to monitor that and the Ministry of Health is currently saying, that we do not exceed those levels we have already opened.”
After more than six months without engagement, a list order paved the way for the Ministry to reopen schools for mature students on November 9, 2020.
The government has also invested about $ 300 million in the education sector to ensure the nation’s children remain engaged through distance learning with online platforms, television packages, radio and print.
This blended learning technique is being extended to students in nursery, primary and secondary schools. (Removed and modified from the Public Information Department)