by Linda Straker
- Focus will be for students who are in exit grades or classes
- Phase 1 of the reopening of schools will be from 1 – 12 November
- Not mandatory for public school teachers to be vaccinated with Covid-19 vaccine
Both public and private schools are scheduled to resume face-to-face classes and a phased approach will be adopted. Focus will be for students who are in exit grades or classes and or those who were not engaged in remote learning when the school year began in September.
“From 01 November, we are going to be opening schools for a period of two weeks. Priority for resumption should be given to students in exit grades, priority two is given to students who have not been engaged in remote learning with their teachers for varied reasons,” Education Minister Emmalin Pierre announced on Tuesday, 19 October during the weekly post-Cabinet briefing.
Due to an outbreak of Covid-19, Grenada’s Government announced in September that schools will be delayed from having face-to-face classes with teachers and students and instead will reopen schools using online platform.
Pierre disclosed during the briefing that data collected from schools indicated that a significant percentage of students are not attending the online sessions and the reasons range from inability to access the internet to students who are simply refusing to attend classes.
Phase 1 of the reopening of schools will be from 1 – 12 November and then there will be phase 2. During phase 1 “those children who are disconnected remotely, they will have an opportunity to meet with their teachers face to face” while those who do not have that problem will continue to be access classes online.
During the period of reopening, depending on the grade or class of a student, he or she will have between 2 or 3 days per week of face-to-face learning. The minister said that students with underlying medical conditions should abstain from attending school, but instead continue engaging in online classes. Referring to the quote “returning to school is a risk but is a risk worth taking” which was said by a student during a consultation, the minister said that the Ministry understood the challenges involved because Grenada is yet to have zero Covid-19 cases since the mid-August outbreak.
It is not mandatory for public school teachers to be vaccinated with a Covid-19 vaccine and they will be opened as announced on 1 November. Private schools must apply to the Ministry of Education for permission to commence classes. The management of private schools will decide on its vaccination policy for staff.
