Education stakeholder group appeals to Gov’t to push back physical reopening of school

The country has recorded 412 new coronavirus cases and five related deaths for the month of August, bringing the total number to 1,290 positives and 15 deceased.

This has prompted calls from some stakeholder groups for the government to re-impose earlier restrictions to contain the spread.

The new school year is set to begin September 7 with many institutions adopting a blended approach to facilitate physical learning in the classroom. However, the sudden rise in COVID-19 cases is alarming, the NPTAJ said.

“Our parents are extremely perturbed by the recent happenings and the seriously negative health impact of this pandemic on their children that the reopening presents under these circumstances,” the stakeholder group said in a release.

“We are concerned too by the minister’s recent utterances on the issue, having stated that: one, sanitization of educational institutions would take place within a four-day window after the general elections, with the expectation to reopen schools on schedule; and two, that the reopening is still on schedule in the face of rising COVID numbers.  Parents were extremely anxious even before now, and in many cases, are not prepared to send their children out to school.  The increase in stress levels does not bode well for our parents, children, teachers nor school administrators given these many uncertainties.”

The government has heeded to those calls by announcing today nightly curfew – from 7:00 pm – 5:00 pm – in the parishes of Kingston, St Catherine, Clarendon and St Andrew. The curfew period will run from August 22, 2020 to September 2, 2020.

"The NPTAJ is therefore calling on the minister and the MOEYI team to seriously review these issues, and to adjust the proposed physical reopening date to later in the year or better yet, January 2021.  Additionally, if reopening will take the virtual platform route, then all tablets as promised to both teachers and students should be done post-haste to ensure that more persons will be able to comfortably access education,” added the NPTAJ.

“We are also calling on the government through the MOEYI to implement a general waiver of import duties and taxes on electronic devices (laptops, tablets and smartphones) being purchased for educational purposes, up to a value of US$700.00; and also to secure volume discounts from international and local providers, to facilitate our parents and teachers who are busy making preparations for the upcoming academic year, many of whom have lost or reduced their income while still trying to support their families.”

Education Minister Karl Samuda said this week that his ministry will be guided by a risk assessment currently being done by the health ministry before making any decision related to the phased re-opening of school.