The Tribune

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

ALL schools in the country will reopen for in-person instruction in the second week of January with just a few exceptions, according to Minister of Education and Technical and Vocational Training Glenys Hanna Martin.

 She said the learning model is expected to be hybrid instruction at first.

 She made the announcement at a press conference yesterday where she also updated the public on repairs to schools around country.

 “The procedures and policies for schools reopening as mandated by the Ministry of Health and Wellness, which we expect to be hybrid in the first instance gradually leading to full face-to-face instruction,” she said.

 “Based on advice from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, I am gratified to be able to announce the reopening of classrooms nationwide, including New Providence in the second week of January 2022.

 “We are in a pandemic and the (ministry) has been fully guided by the Ministry of Health and Wellness as to when face-to-face instruction may resume and the safety protocols in the classroom and on school premises to facilitate face-to-face instruction.”

 She noted it has been almost two years since normalcy has been in classrooms and that due to this many children have not been consistent in their learning.

 “Over the last almost two years since the first COVID case in The Bahamas, there has been tremendous disruptions in our children’s education and significant gaps in learning have occurred,” she said. “And we have discovered that a significant number of children have either not been on consistently or not at all during that entire period.

 “All of the research shows that learning loss of that nature has a serious impact on the child’s personal development, which also has an impact on the national development. If you have masses of people who have been set back in this way, it’s something that we will all pay a price for. As a result of that, we have been speaking with our technical people to see what strategies have to be implemented to catch up.

 “Part of that will include a testing of the children once we get them back in the classroom so that we are able to make an assessment of the extent of loss which we hope is not extensive. Thereafter channeling the children in appropriate remediation programmes to see catch up.”

 There are many children who should have graduated high school in 2020 and 2021, but were categorised as incomplete. Mrs Hanna Martin said there will be assistance for them as well.

 “Additionally there is a second category of students who would have normally graduated last year and normally would have graduated this year,” she said. “Many of them have not been online at all.

 “We consider them to be dropouts and so we are seeking to identify those children and channel them through programmes at BTVI and National Training Agency to ensure that they are able to make up for lost ground as best as possible.

 “We are actively looking at the issue and we are committed to do all that we can to make up as much as humanly possible the loss of learning during this crisis.”

 She said getting the children back on track will have to be an effort to include principals, administrators, teachers, support staff, parents and the wider community, the Ministries of Education and Health and Wellness, Social Development and Urban Renewal.

 On the subject of school repairs, the Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training has spent some $20 million dollars thus far.

 “Several primary, junior and senior high schools throughout the country are being repaired as we speak,” the minister said, continuing. “These repairs range from what may be called minor to major structural repairs.

 “As it relates to those schools undergoing major repairs, several will likely not be ready for in-person classes. We are very disappointed that this is the case. We are working closely with the Ministry of Works as they oversee the various contractor works to assure diligent attention to completion.”

 She said the following schools are now under repair and will likely not be ready for face-to-face instruction in January, 2022: L W Young Jr High School; Yellow Elder Primary; Sybil Strachan Primary; Ridgeland Primary; Uriah McPhee Primary; S C McPherson Jr High; Centre for the Deaf; C W Sawyer Primary; Carlton Francis Primary; Columbus Primary; James Pinder Primary; and Gambier Primary.

 She said the children who attend the affected schools will also enjoy face-to-face learning.

 “As it relates to the students of these schools, the Ministry is devising alternate plans to facilitate face-to-face and that these children will be in school,” she said. “I repeat, these children will also be in face-to-face instruction. The bottom line is that these students will be in school.”