21,000 students to return to school in two weeks - Ministry approves opening for grades 10, 11 and 12

21,000 students to return to school in two weeks – Ministry approves opening for grades 10, 11 and 12

Nov 01, 2020 News

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand at the conference

Kaieteur News – Following the Health Ministry’s approval for the conditional re-opening of schools in the newly Gazetted order for COVID-19 measures this month, it was announced that schools will be opening in two weeks.
The disclosure was made by the Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand during a press conference at the National Center for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) yesterday. Over 21,000 students, which include those from grades 10, 11 and 12 and even technical-vocational students, will be having face-to-face classes from November 9, according to the Minister.
Manickchand stated that the decision to reopen schools came from the government observing global best practices and conducting studies, as well holding discussions between parents, teachers, the Ministry of Health, the Guyana Teacher’s Union (GTU), the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) and other stakeholders.
Upon the re-opening, students and teachers will attend school on a rotation schedule based on special timetables set by the respective administrations; schools with dormitories will also be reopened on November 9 with special arrangements, according to Manickchand.
“For the dorms, we have special arrangements, we are working very closely with the Ministry of Health to make sure the students who come back in the dorms are COVID-19 free as well as remains so during the time,” she stated.
Along with that, it was noted that the school term will be adjusted and the school week may also be extended.
Previously, it was stated that schools would be allowed to open for face-to-face classes to better serve 2021 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) students, given that all necessary guidelines mandated by the MOH are implemented, to decrease the risk of the virus being transmitted in schools.
The move to open schools for these students came as a result of them needing the classroom setting to complete their School-Based Assessments (SBAs) for CSEC and Internal Assessments (IAs) for CAPE.
Over the past week, the Ministry of Education has been engaged in deep discussions about the reopening of schools with both teachers and parents to come up with measures and solutions that ensure efficient learning and safety.
It was highlighted by many teachers during consultations that while they can reach most of their students, many students have not had a good attendance for their ZOOM classes. Some of these students, the teachers said, have internet access yet they were not attending their scheduled classes.
They lamented that reopening school was the only solution as their SBAs have to be completed and more effort is made when they are present in a classroom.
Meanwhile, the Minister, in a Facebook post giving more clarifications, has this to say:
“This morning I announced that Cabinet has made a decision to open schools from 9th November 2020 for face to face engagements for students of Grades 10, 11 and 12 (or fourth, fifth and sixth formers). The truth is many of these students have already been back at school with their teachers engaging face to face. Because teachers, students and parents are deeply worried that except their children get that level of engagement, they won’t be able to successfully sit the 2021 CXC exams. In an effort to make learning safe, the MOE shall be providing care packages including facemasks and sanitizing material to teachers and students, adequate hand washing facilities will be in place and distancing during instruction time will happen.
Nothing we do will be perfect because we are not in normal times. Doing nothing, however, can cause irreparable harm and damage to our students and result in lifelong consequences. And we cannot let that happen. We did as those who are directly affected asked. For our children. For our future.”