By Tamica Garnett
FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD Devi Persaud is scheduled to write her Caribbean Secondary Examinations Certificate (CSEC) subjects next year but had been contemplating postponing her sitting until 2022, but, with the announcement that schools will be reopening from next Monday, Persaud says she’s looking forward to writing the exams next year.
Persaud is among several students who are looking forward to returning to the classrooms they have not been in since March when schools across the country were closed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In September, schools began to re-engage students virtually.

Persaud told the Guyana Chronicle that it has been a difficult few months for her as she prepares to write five subjects at the 2021 CSEC.
“I am excited it’s opening back because it has been kind of tough, especially knowing that I have to write exams next year,” the Endeavour and Commons Secondary School student shared.
“Sometimes the internet would go off when the teacher is trying to explain something. And it is hard understanding some new topics, since much explanation isn’t done. Going back to school means I will have a better understanding of what is really going on.”

Students, parents and teachers have been split in their feelings towards the re-opening of schools next week, and whether it is the right balance for mitigating the learning loss and protecting the students and teachers from the deadly virus.

“There will be both disadvantages and advantages. But it is beneficial for those students who don’t have access to neither the internet nor a device where they can work from home,” shared 18-year-old Dexter Pellew.

A student of the MacKenzie High School in Linden, Pellew is preparing to write seven units at the 2021 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE); he said the time at home has taken away from his ability to more focus in his preparations for his exams.

“My biggest challenges were getting accustomed with doing work from home, being more independent in my studies and, better at managing my time,” Pellew told this publication.
Several teachers, however, have mixed emotions about the situation, but are sympathetic to the effect the   closure of schools is having on their students.
“I have 66 students, but if I have a zoom meeting and four turn up that’s a lot. Four is the most I’ve ever had. It’s frustrating because I am putting a lot into doing the work and I feel like I’m wasting my time,” commented one teacher, who teaches CSEC Mathematics at a school in the city.
The teacher, who prefers to remain anonymous, noted that she is not in support of the reopening of schools, but she believes that the students will not be as prepared as needed for exams in 2021 if they are to remain at home and continue learning virtually.

The reopening of schools was officially announced by the Ministry of Education on Saturday last following a week-long series of virtual consultations held with parents and teachers from across the country. On Friday last, a new list of COVID-19 Emergency Measures catered for the re-opening of schools.
Though in agreement with the re-opening, another teacher who teaches at a secondary school on the East Coast of Demerara, believes that perhaps students and teachers should have been given more time.

“I am happy that it is opening, but I am questioning the time they’re looking to re-open it,” the teacher noted.
“But I want school to re-open, the children at my school, a lower secondary school, are struggling greatly. Out of a class of 30 plus students, we would have about five online. Majority are greatly affected and the little that are online are not coping properly with the technological era.”

When she announced the partial re-opening of schools, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand had noted that “nothing we do will be perfect, [but] doing nothing however can cause irreparable harm and damage to our students and result in life-long consequences.”

The minister also noted that in Guyana, the ministry has already received an alarming number of requests from students to repeat the year, as they feel they will lose if they continue to stay out of school.

“We learnt from studies internationally which indicated a strong likelihood of learning loss and a high possibility of premature school-leaving and that the longer students stayed out of schools, the more likely these will be the consequences,” she noted.