Basseterre: St. Kitts, Thursday, August 26th, 2021: Minister of Education, Honourable Jonel Powell, addressed the nation on Wednesday, August 25th, 2021 regarding the way forward for the 2021-2022 Academic year
“As we at the Ministry of Education continue to chart the course for the new school year, we are 100 percent mindful that the school system will be commencing within an environment that is affected by over 200 active cases of the Coronavirus in theFederation. The Early Childhood sector has been hard hit by the current spread of the coronavirus and a number of public and private Early Childhood Centres have had close as a precautionary measure,” noted Minister Powell.
He appealed to the philanthropic nature of stakeholders [parents and teachers], to become proactive in ensuring that schools remain physically open. He stated, that through vaccination and adhering to the established non-pharmaceutical protocols parents and teachers will help to alleviate the far-reaching consequencesthat may arise owing to the unscheduled closure of schools due to the spread of the coronavirus in the communities.
“This situation is certainly not what we want for the upcoming school year. Thus, I am making a passionate appeal to the general public, particularly parents of children and all workers within the Ministry of Education to seriously and urgently pursue the taking of the Covid -19 vaccine, if you have not yet done so. The educational, psychological, cognitive, and psycho-social cost of unscheduled interruption to schooling is tremendous and scarily long-term. Our nation’s children deserve the best possible education, and the reality is that face-to-face instruction is undoubtedly the best,”
Minister Powell expressed the need for a collective approach to curb the spread of Covid-19 throughout the communities and provided a brief synopsis of what is to be expected on the reopening of school on Wednesday September 8th, 2021.
“It is critically important then that all parents, teachers, students, and other education stakeholders’ bond together to stop the spread of this deadly virus. All persons entering our school compounds can expect that daily they will have to respond to a simple health checklist, have their temperature checked and their hands sanitised before being admitted to our campuses,” he stated.
The Minister also noted the shift system will continue for Basseterre High School, Washington Archibald high and the Cotton Thomas Comprehensive School upon the commencement of the academic year 2021-2022.
