Education Minister Priya Manickchand yesterday announced that public schools will be reopening their doors from November 9th to hold classes for students of grades 10, 11 and 12 and she assured that COVID-19 best practices would be in place to ensure the safety of both teachers and their charges.
At a press conference yesterday at NCERD, in Georgetown, Manickchand announced that following a Cabinet decision schools shall reopen for face-to-face engagements for the cohort of students in grades 10, 11, 12 as well as for all Practical Instruction Centres (PICs) and Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) Centres, who make up over 12% of the student population countrywide.
Manickchand said the ministry has decided to make sure that these students receive the education they need so that they are not lifelong victims of COVID-19, which led government to close schools in March. Regarding the pupils and students who will not be benefitting from face-to-face instruction, it is expected that schools will organise to ensure those students are engaged continuously and effectively, she noted.
The ministry previously said once face-to-face schooling resumes, adjustments may need to be made to the school term and an extended school week might be added. Rotations of students and teachers as necessary will also be incorporated, Manickchand stated yesterday.
Many of the students who will be returning to classes are due to sit examinations administered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) next year. Although the regional body has not yet decided when its CSEC and CAPE exams will be held and what form they will take, it has started advertising to have students registered for the May/June sitting of exams, prompting the ministry to start preparing students, she said.
Reckless
According to the minister, each school/institution will have the freedom to set its own timetable to get teaching done effectively and may do what is necessary to effectively deliver the education needed, once it complies with the gazetted COVID-19 order.
The order, which was gazette on Friday, states, “Schools may be re-opened by the Ministry of Education to compliance with the measures under this notice and the Ministry of Education may issue guidelines or give any instructions to minimize the risks of coronavirus transmission in schools”. Asked whether the ministry would be issuing its guidelines, the Minister explained that the previous orders used for the sitting of the 2020 exams will not be used but instead a number of instructions have been transmitted to schools.
She added that while “these are difficult times and no measure will be perfect, we must ensure we work to make sure we do not lose educationally, with all the attendant consequences there of entire generations to a disease which will not last with the same force for one generation. Doing nothing is not a choice we have. That would be irresponsible and reckless and we are neither.”
The ministry has held a number of consultations in recent months, including with the Ministry of Health, medical professionals, CXC, head teachers, teachers, the Guyana Teachers’ Union, parents, students and other stakeholders, discussing and considering all relevant issues to decide on the way forward for the delivery of the curriculum in the Christmas Term and going forward. Through these meetings the ministry was made aware of the worries and concerns by all invested. Manickchand said that some parents and students even went as far to ask to repeat the school year so the students do not lose out on their learning. “Schools have been cleaned and weeded and we have procured masks and face shields and sanitising products and vitamin support for our teachers and for our students who are to return to school, care packages. Thermometers will be provided to all schools. Adequate signage and information has also been acquired and will be widely available and conspicuously posted,” she said.
She highlighted the ministry’s efforts to academically engage students across levels since September by utilising the Guyana Learning Channel and the radio with timetabled instruction on a daily basis and in accordance with the curriculum. Online teaching through the use of platforms, like Zoom and Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Webx, to name a few, and the use of worksheets prepared by the ministry and distributed to students have also been implemented. However, these attempts did no go without challenges. The lack of internet connectivity and devices, the existence of only one television channel from which it can broadcast and the inability to dedicate a radio station only to learning has made the worksheets the most effective, universally applied intervention thus far based on the feedback received by the ministry, the minister said. With this revelation, the ministry has embarked on a potential reopening.
She also said that based on the data received, “we have either finished or are in the process of finishing installing sinks in all schools and making sure toilets work and we have determined that there is adequate ventilation and have assessed the capacity to stay appropriately distanced Vis-à-vis the numbers in each school.”
Re-teaching
Manickchand said that it is expected that content will begin from where it was left off for each student. This, she said, may necessitate re-teaching what was already taught during the months of closure for those students who did not access tuition. This is to ensure that students are not lost or drop out due to learning loss.
She added that guidance on the completion of SBAs and syllabi will be provided by the ministry as the need arises. And text books, past papers, digital support and other materials will be provided so that each student has access to necessary resources.
To ensure the schools are coronavirus-free, regular temperature checks, frequent cleaning of schools with adequate janitorial supplies and adequate cleaning staff will be carried out simultaneously with ongoing education about best practices for COVID-19 safety, Manickchand assured.
Addressing concerns by teachers who have children who will not be returning to school, the minister said that accommodation can be made by schools to cater for those teachers. She said that there will be no testing of students and teachers before their return to school but in the event of a student or teacher contracting the virus, it will be treated like every other case. She said that the infected person will be tended to by the necessary practitioner while the normal Ministry of Health protocols will also be followed, including contact tracing and quarantining or isolation if so needed. She added that dormitories will be available for the students who need them but the stringent COVID-19 guidelines will need to be followed by all.
Additionally, the minister said provisions will be made for addressing the psychological effects COVID-19 may have had on students, a wellness diagnostic will be administered to students and support will be offered where necessary. Manickchand said that the Schools’ Welfare Department is fully mobilised to address needs as they arise.
As for the concerns about transportation, Manickchand said that over 50% of the government-owned buses are not in working condition and while some can be repaired, until that is done they cannot be used. As a result, the Chief Education Officer (CEO) Dr. Marcel Hutson met with representatives of the Guyana Police Force Traffic Department, the President of the United Minibus Union, the Route 42 United Minibus Society, the Route 44 United Minibus Society, the Director of the Department of Consumer Affairs, and the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce to discuss student transportation and guidelines to be followed for the students’ safety while travelling. “We have the commitment by all of the bodies to talk about how they will monitor the bus park to ensure that students are not left there “liming” as we would say,” Hutson, who was also at the press conference, said. He assured that bus touts, bus drivers and bus conductors will be warned against tugging at the students to catch their bus and buses that are transporting school children will have to be provided sanitisers and thermometers. The CEO said that if these buses are not deemed fit by the police, they will not be allowed to transport students.
