St. Vincent’s Government Hoping To Re-Open Schools By Month End

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, May 8, 2020 (CMC) – The St. Vincent and the Grenadines government says schools — which have been closed as part of the lockdown of the island, in keeping with the efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) — could be re-opened, later this month.

Health Minister, Luke Browne, told a news conference that the Ministry of Education had made a presentation to Cabinet, on Wednesday, about the reopening of schools, “and the matter is being finalised”.

The schools were closed, one week ahead of the annual Easter break, and Browne said the final decision, regarding the re-opening of schools, will be made “on the recommendation of the Ministry of Education”.

“There was a discussion that took us in the direction of getting that recommendation. And I think that what is possible to be said, at this moment, is that we’re looking at a return to school that, first of all, takes into consideration students, who are doing external examinations,” Browne said, a reference to students in the fifth and sixth forms.

“So they’re hoping to start with the return of these students, and possibly, before the end of the month, and then they will roll out a full reopening program, shortly thereafter,” Browne added.

“But I should make a point, as well, as many of you may already know, that classes are still going on, right now, through the electronic mechanisms that have been established by the Ministry of Education. But stay tuned, and I’m sure that more information on this particular question will come to light, in the not-too-distant future,” Browne said.

Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Roger Duncan, responding to a question, as to what conditions would be considered safe for the re-opening of the schools, said, “We are very reluctant to deal in absolutes, when it comes to this.”

“So that if you do one, two, three, four, there is absolute safety within schools. So what we have done is, we’ve outlined a series of mitigating actions that we have advised the ministry of education to take. Actions related to sanitization, access to hand washing, physical distancing on the school compound, and so forth.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education, has issued a memo to Heads of educational institutions, indicating that in preparation for the eventual re-opening of schools, they are to ensure that school facilities are properly cleaned.

The cleaning began yesterday, and the Ministry of Education said, it “continues to be guided by the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment on a suitable time for the re-opening of schools and protocols necessary to facilitate this eventuality”.