Just over a month after she announced that schools may have to remain open during the July/August vacation period in order to address the learning loss, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand has now revealed that schools will be closed instead.
The decision was reported by the Department of Public Information (DPI) on Monday.
Initially, Manickchand had justified the decision on the basis that the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with the closure of schools has had a severe impact on the learning of students. She had said that she noticed that parents have not fully realised the impact that school closures have had on children.
However, both parents and teachers protested the decision.
On Monday, DPI said that schools will be closed in the first week of July and reopen in September as per normal.
It added that the majority of the teachers were not in favour of school remaining open during the vacation period since they were engaged in schoolroom activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We believe that it is … best at this point, to have everyone close for the July/August holidays, as usual, return to school in September, refreshed, teachers, feel particularly tired, because while it is true that we were home they were still working and so they feel like they need the break,” DPI quoted Manickchand as saying.
The minister indicated that some teachers have expressed their willingness to work with students during the holiday season, especially those preparing for major examinations.
“What we will do in an organised way … we are going to announce shortly… is publish on the learning channel and on our new radio station EDUU, we are going to publish in an organised way, courses, studies in different areas, so if parents want their children to get reinforcement, or what we call in Guyana, lessons, for free they can tune into the channel at different points,” Manickchand noted.
The reinforcement will be available for nursery, primary and secondary students, with mechanisms in place to monitor progress.
