By: Chaïra Flanders
Basseterre, St. Kitts, March 26, 2020 (ZIZ News): Minister of Education, Hon. Shawn Richards has reaffirmed the Ministry of Education’s commitment to ensuring the health and overall well being of all within learning institutions across St. Kitts by announcing the closure of schools this week.
Minister Richards made the announcement while delivering an address to the nation on Wednesday morning.
“Students will proceed on their Easter break from Monday, 30th March, 2020 provided that there is no confirmed case of COVID-19 before then. From 30th March, students would have three instead of two (2) weeks of Easter break. During the week of Monday, 30th March to Friday, 3rd April, 2020, teachers would remain at home unless asked to come out for training”, Richards explained.
He said there are plans in place to continue at pace with the students’ education in the first 2 to 3 weeks of the school closure.
He said, “During the past week, teachers prepared students’ learning packages that the children within all government primary and secondary schools would be given to take home by Friday 27th March, 2020. These educational packages are aimed at providing students with academic materials that they can work on to consolidate their learning.”
Minister Richards used the opportunity to encourage parents to do their part to ensure that the students complete their assignments while at home.
“Parents, you now have an even greater responsibility to ensure that your children are completing the assigned work in the learning packages that your children are bringing home. If your child/ward is without a learning package, please contact the school promptly’, he advised.
The Education Minister said he is grateful for the partnerships with corporate partners like Flow and the Cable who will be assisting the Ministry of Education by providing alternative learning platforms for teachers to provide instruction to students and self-paced learning resources for at home use.
He also thanked all Departments in the Ministry of Education for their service and unwavering dedication throughout this challenging time.