Schools’ reopening: High turnout of students, teachers as face-to-face classes begin under COVID-19 protocols

…online classes still an option – Minister

Students across Guyana on Monday returned to school for face-to-face learning – almost 17 months since the pandemic would have forced a closure. The Education Ministry reported a high turnout.

It was not the swarming back to school rush, synonymous with a pre-COVID setting, as students trickled into their respective schools. Instead, steady caution greeted them along with safety measures brought on by the new norm.
This meant temperature checks at the gates, handwashing and the wearing of masks upon turning up to their respective schools. With the nursery and primary levels returning this week, secondary students are to wait until they receive both doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand would have visited a few locations to assess the turnout and ensure all preparations were in order. On her social media page, she reiterated that students are entering two levels senior to where they initially left and while it is challenging time, a longer closure would have resulted in irreversible damage.

“As it is, it will be hard to catch up and be at a place where the children ought to be. We have consolidated our curricula and will begin with diagnostic assessments from which we hope to see the academic and wellness level of our children. All children will begin with work from the year they missed and as they catch that up, they will then move onto their current year.”
She would have added that parents have the option to let their children remain home and use materials provided by the Ministry of Education.

“There is no right or wrong in this pandemic, what parents choose to do is what we will support…Usually, we say it is mandatory for children to be at school. This year we are giving you a choice. If you are not yet comfortable, we are saying you may keep your children at home and access all our resources. And send them when you get comfortable,” Manickchand said.
By the end of the day, preliminary data from 51 per cent of the nursery and primary schools showed a 70 per cent turnout of nursery pupils along with 95 per cent of teachers. For the primary level, 92 per cent of teachers were in attendance with 65 per cent of their pupils present.
“It must be noted that some schools have chosen to teach specific grades on different days to avoid crowded classrooms and to maintain social distancing. Therefore, the attendance data does not reflect the entire school population but rather those students who were scheduled to attend school,” the Ministry said.
The Ministry had revealed that at the nursery level, 41 of the 348 schools would open for complete face-to-face learning, while the others will operate on a rotation schedule. For primary schools, 44 of the 413 were given the greenlight for full opening at all grade levels; while Grade Six classes would be facilitated every day of the week, in keeping with preparations for the National Grade Six Assessment.

However, some 10 schools were unable to open because teachers tested positive for COVID-19.
Recently, the Education Ministry advised that the reopening of secondary schools for face-to-face teaching will be based on the national vaccination programme for adolescents across Guyana.
It said in a statement that the advice received from the Health Ministry was that it is better to allow students to be vaccinated and be fully inoculated before returning to the school’s physical environment.
For an adolescent to be deemed fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine they must receive two doses 21-28 days apart with an additional seven to 14 days after the second dose to be fully protected. This would mean that the different secondary schools will return to face-to-face instruction on different dates.
The Ministry will be utilising the Guyana Diagnostics Assessment and consolidated curriculum to ensure that students are abreast in the given modalities and subject areas, given the impact brought on by the coronavirus disruptions. It will include content, teaching strategies and assessments for students. The consolidated curriculum is not a new tool, but the same in which teachers are exposed to. However, it is “tightening” the existing curriculum, bearing no compromises but simply seeking to effectively utilise time to meet grade level objectives up to Grade Nine.