BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 3rd July 2020) – In light of coronavirus (COVID-19) safety guidelines, the new Minister of Education, Jonell Powell, has informed about plans for the phased reopening of schools including the requirement of early childhood centers to get checked for approval ahead of the new school year in September 2020.

In an address to the nation on Thursday 2nd July, he disclosed that summer break will begin after Friday 10th July followed by the new school year on Monday 7th September 2020.

“Having determined that the school year starts on 7th September 2020, the Ministry of Education will take a phased approach to the physical reopening of learning institutions. The phased approach to the return of students is necessary in order to ensure that schools can effectively implement and sustain the health, hygiene, and safety protocols and where possible establish and maintain reasonable measures for physical distance in keeping with the school context. The efforts, in this regard, are informed by the recommendations outlined in documents from UNICEF, UNESCO and CARPHA regarding the reopening of educational institutions. Additionally, the Ministry of Education continues to work closely with the National COVID-19 Task Force.”

On the topic of the early childhood centers, he had this to say: “We’re currently working together to address the needs of the early childhood sector to explore the phased opening of this very critical sector. As a nation, we’re moving towards effectively living and working with the threat of COVID-19, and as more and more of our citizens transition back to the workforce , the care and welfare of our youngest citizens will remain of utmost priority thus the Ministry of Education , through its Early Childhood Development Unit, and in conjunction with the National Task Force for COVID-19 will begin the process of a phased approach to reopening the early Childhood sector on a case by case basis.”

The Education Minister told that proprietors and supervisors of nurseries and preschools are asked to contact the Early Childhood Development Unit at 466-2810 for guidance on the application process to commence the review of your facilities in light of the COVID-19 safety requirements.

“Once the Early Childhood facility has been determined to be compliant with the new safety and health protocols of the early childhood sector, then that nursery or center would be able to secure approval for reopening.”

In regard to the end of the school year, he outlined that: “Recognising that many of our teachers and students have been engaging in online instructions since the physical closure of our schools, the Ministry of Education has taken a decision that provision of instructions will end on 10th July 2020 as was scheduled on the academic calendar. This means that there is no extension of the academic school year.”

“As such, public school students in St.Kitts and Nevis will commence their summer break after 10th July 2020. Where there are school matters to complete, teachers are required to avail themselves for the completion of all duties. Students who are scheduled to write over CSCE examinations for 13th July 2020 would be expected to report to their schools’ examination centres very early for each examination in light of new protocols for assessing examination spaces at schools, students registered for exams are encouraged to get to their schools at least one hour of every examination time.”

The Education Minister said the first school term is proposed to end on Friday 11th December 2020.

“It is the intention of the Ministry of Education for student-teacher engagement to be maximized during this period thus the processes of teaching, learning and assessment are expected to accentuate until 4th December 2020. The days of 7th to 11th December 2020 are designated for grading and record keeping. This allows teachers a period for uninterrupted marking and updating of records. Parents and guardians can therefore begin to collect reports for term one from 14th December 2020.”

According to Powell, “As we look towards the next academic year, the Ministry is staunchly committed to the course of action which will increase student contact time and minimize loss of learning.”