Basseterre, St. Kitts, September 3, 2020 (ZIZ News): Ahead of the reopening of schools next week, Minister of Education, Hon. Jonel Powell and other officials from the Education ministry embarked on a school tour around St. Kitts on Wednesday.
The group visited the Beach Allen Primary and Tucker Clarke Primary, where the custodial staff was busy preparing the classrooms to receive students for the new school term.
Minister Powell said the tour aims to assess what preparations have been made so far and to ascertain what else needs to be done before the start of school on Monday.
“I’m visiting a number of different schools around St. Kitts to see what works are being done in relation to the reopening of schools for next week Monday the 7th of September, to be able to just interact with the principals and the staff and see how comfortable they are, see what needs to be done still,” he said.
The Minister said he is pleased with the progress made so far noting that schools are ready to be opened.
“I’m quite satisfied so far that we’re on the right track and there are just some little things that we need to tie up,” he added that “cleaning has generally been done at all the schools and like I said just the loose ends that we’re tying up now but all in all we are ready to reopen schools on Monday the 7th of September.”
Principal of Beach Allen Primary, Virgil Jeffers spoke of how the Covid-19 protocols will be observed at the school.
“Already we at the school, we would’ve already started outlining the classrooms, the classrooms would have been fitted with the marks on the floor. We would’ve had the protocols observed at the entrance of the school premises and we would have the shift system that will be taking place upon the reopening of school. Our shift system at the school, the juniors, kindergarten to grade 2 they will begin school at 8am and they will finish at 3pm and grades 3 to 6 , they will begin school at 9am and finish at 4pm.”
He added that the school has already met with the parents to inform them of the protocols that will be applied at the school.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, August 25, 2020 (ZIZ News):Chief Education Officer, Dr Debbie Isaac says a shift system has been implemented in several of the nation’s primary and secondary schools ahead of the opening of the 2020-2021 Academic year.
During Wednesday’s NEOC briefing at the NEMA, Dr. Isaac said the new shift system has been put in place to ensure the safety of staff, teachers and students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said Washington Archibald High and Basseterre High School will be placed on the shift system. The primary schools placed on a shift system include Sandy Point Primary, Dr. William Connor Primary, Cotton Thomas Comprehensive and Tucker Clarke Primary.
The Chief Education Officer then spoke in detail about some of the changes that are being made to protect and accommodate students at Cotton Thomas Comprehensive.
“The infants department which includes the early stimulation, autistic and visually impaired along with the skills classes will be at school all day that is from 8:30 am -2:30 pm. These students will not wear the face masks while on the school compound. All the other classes will be on a morning and afternoon shift. All students on the shift system (within Cotton Thomas) will be required to wear face masks while they’re at school”, she noted.
She said there will be a morning and afternoon shift and added that school meals will be provided for students during both sessions. She also explained that parents can expect the school bus to pick up students affected by the shift system around its usual time in the morning and at 11 am for the afternoon shift.
In light of this, she explained that primary school students who are not on the shift system will not be allowed to leave the premises for lunch break.
“Those students in the primary schools who will not be on shift system will not be allowed to leave the school compound for lunch. Parents you will be asked to provide packed lunches for your child or ward as the case may be”, she said.
All teachers in the federation will begin training with the Microsoft teams from Friday August 28 to Thursday September 3.
Dr. Isaac reminded that all teachers must report to their school on Monday September 7 and Tuesday September 8 while primary and secondary school students along with Cotton Thomas Comprehensive are expected to return on Wednesday September 9.
Early Childhood students return in full on Monday September 7.
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