School re-opening plans published on Education Ministry’s website
Schools will be reopening for physical learning on September 6 with individualised plans
Schools will be reopening for physical learning on September 6 with individualised plans

WITH schools scheduled to physically re-open from September 6, using a variety of individualised plans, the Ministry of Education (MoE), over the weekend, posted, on its website, the re-opening plans being utilised by each school, in each of the 11 education districts.

For each school, the re-opening plans cover attendance for specific grades from Monday to Friday. The list includes the nursery, primary, and secondary schools as well as practical instruction centres (PICs).

Some schools will be opened to all classes at all levels throughout the week, while some schools will alternate between grades on differing days. In many cases, particular grade levels, will not have school every day.

The plans can be viewed on the Ministry’s website at https://education.gov.gy/en/index.php/sr#gsc.tab=0
The school reopening plans are based on the school’s location, capacity, enrolment and teachers on staff. All schools will be required to adhere to COVID-19 protocols.

Forty one of the 348 nursery schools across the country will be reopening fully, to regular classes, while 44 of the 457 primary schools will be opening fully to all classes every day, and, for secondary schools, seven of the 133 schools will be opened fully as per normal.

At a press conference held last Friday, where the MoE laid out its reopening programme, Chief Education Officer (CEO), Dr. Marcel Hutson, had called on parents to ensure they check with their children’s respective schools to understand the attendance plans, and know when their child is expected to be at school, so as to avoid confusion at the schools, and for the COVID-19 protocols to be observed.

Parents can also check with the schools’ plans on the website.
“Parents could have access to it so people could have access to information to help them. When that information is placed on the different modes of communication parents could see it to minimise any sort of confusion. This breakdown [by each school] was done so parents would know you don’t have to come to school every day so we can have some order to things,” the CEO said.

In most cases, the primary and secondary schools have placed emphasis on their higher level classes which have to prepare to write the national examination, having them attend school on as many days as possible.

At the nursery schools, Assistant CEO, Samantha Williams, at Friday’s press conference, had explained that each level will be engaged for a minimum of four hours per week, and class sizes will not exceed five children per teacher.

The children will also each be given a learning package that will include stationery and learning materials such as flash cards.

““We believe that the four-hour instructions along with the parental support will be adequate to help our children to acquire early literacy, numeracy and life skills. This package is necessary because we are operating under strict COVID-19 protocols and want to avoid sharing of resources,” Williams explained.

Schools in Guyana have been closed to physical learning since March 16, 2020, as part of measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools reopened virtually to learning in September, 2020, while in November 2020 it was partially reopened physically to Grades 10, 11 and 12 for these students to prepare for their Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) exams.

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