Basseterre: St. Kitts, Thursday, September 16, 2021: Addressing the nation on Wednesday, September 15, Minister of Education, the Honourable Jonel Powell, appealed to all stakeholders in education to merge actions to fight the surge of COVID-19 outbreaks in the schools and by extension the country.
The minister stated, “I am appealing to all of us to continue to work to ensure the continued health and safety of our nation’s citizens and residents. We can, by our individual and collective actions, prevent the Coronavirus from wreaking havoc on our nation, particularly our people.”
A keen appeal was made to parents on behalf of the Ministry to consider the impact on the learning environment before sending children with flu like symptoms to school.
“To parents, I am appealing to you to ensure that your child or ward does not attend school if displaying cold or flu like symptoms. Further, it is of the utmost importance that they refrain from attendance if they have had contact with someone in quarantine, or who has tested positive for COVID-19. Through your cooperation we can reduce disruptions in teaching and learning, particularly the frequency and duration of remote instruction modalities for engaging students,” expressed the Minister.
Minister Powell reminded the teachers and administrators of the urgent need to keep students actively engaged via the MS Teams platform, in order to ensure that no child is left behind on the academic ladder during this trying time.
“To teachers and school administrators, while this is by no means a normal education situation, it is critically important to engage your students through the MS Teams platform and to provide them access to a school community, support network, and learning experience while engaged in remote learning,” stated Minister Powell
A sympathetic ear and words of gratitude were expressed to teachers by the Minister.
“I know that teachers have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, having to upskill in technology and learn new hybrid models of teaching under challenging conditions. I take this opportunity to thank you for your continued commitment to the education of our children.”
Minister Powell reminded all residents to adhere to the non-pharmaceuticals protocols already established to help mitigate the spread of the virus throughout communities.
“I urge us all to continue to follow all the precautionary recommendations and guidelines outlined by our government acting on the advice of the National COVID-19 Task Force. Let us continue to uphold the appropriate hygiene protocols and practice the necessary physical distancing to limit the spread of the virus,” stated the Honourable Minister of Education.