The Ministry of Education has decided that while the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) will go ahead as planned, the two Grade Six pupils who recently tested positive for COVID-19 will be placed at schools within Region Nine.
“It is obvious that they will not be fit to write the exams, so the plan is to place them at secondary schools in the region,” the Ministry of Education’s Public Relations Officer Murtland Haley told Stabroek News.
It was announced five days ago that the two students tested positive for COVID-19. Nial Uthman the Regional Health Officer for the region, has told this newspaper that the two children are progressing well while in isolation and that the other students would be re-tested on a date that is to be determined.
They were among some 359 Grade Six students due to write the NGSA this week. The examinations are to be conducted in every region following the strict gazetted health and safety measures.
Meanwhile, another student who is staying at the same quarantine facility as the two students shared his experience since crossing the border to sit his exam.
Clarence (not his real name), a 16-year-old student of Bon Fim, Brazil crossed the Guyana/Brazil border some two weeks ago, after it was announced that he would have to attend revision classes in order to sit his Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, which will commence on July 13th.
In Guyana, he attends St Ignatius Secondary School in Region Nine. Prior to crossing the border, the young man said he had heard of the Education Ministry’s announcement regarding the sanitising and other protocols that would be done to ensure everyone is safe as they return to schools.
He, however, told this newspaper that he felt very unconvinced by the ministry’s approach at reassuring people of their safety. Additionally, he said he was even more upset because he did not foresee the sitting of the exam so soon. It was Clarence’s wish to have the exam further delayed as he felt students were not ready to sit an exam.
He said he was not ready. “Like we have to write exams and then we have COVID-19, it just didn’t seem like the right time,” Clarence explained.
Nevertheless, the teen as well as another student came to Guyana for the exams. Upon their return, he said they were faced with the dangers of the disease when they were placed in a quarantine facility at Lethem. Clarence said that since their arrival they have been placed in proximity to other people, including the two students who tested positive and it is due to this that he fears he could contract the disease but so far his tests have not shown any indications of a possible transmission.
Since being at the facility, Clarence has been tested once, about 13 days after he crossed the border and almost a week after the test, he was screened.
Clarence described his experience doing the test as a painful one. “They take a cotton swab and they push it far back in your nostril. It burned, it really burns,” he related.
He also said that his father, who he communicates with via phone, is very worried about him. Even though he has not shown any symptoms, he still worries that he could get the deadly disease, especially since the two students who returned to write their NGSA exams have tested positive. The two students were placed at the same quarantine facility and were removed and taken to an isolation facility after their results returned positive.
Clarence said that he expects to be re-tested soon.
He also again raised his concerns about the conditions in which the facility where they are being housed. He noted that since the last time he spoke with this newspaper, the food they receive at the facility has gotten better. He had previously mentioned that all the persons in quarantine are constantly around each other. This time, he said “Well, they moving slow and they ain’t really taking enough precautions ’cause we still mix up together.” He added, “It is hard to study, you know, when you’re in a place where you aren’t comfortable”. He reminded that while students were already not prepared or expecting to still be sitting the exam at this time, studying while at a quarantine facility is even more of a challenge for them.
