On Friday, September 24th, at the Ministry of Infrastructure’s conference room, a Press Conference was held by the Ministry of Education, primarily to inform the public — and parents and guardians in particular — on the status of physical school opening.
Up until then, for the three past weeks since school re-opened virtually on September 6th, students had been engaged in online classes at home. The Ministry of Education, in tandem with the Ministry of Health, had made this decision in an effort to stem the tide of rising Covid cases that continued to pose a risk of affecting the school system on the island.
During that Press Conference the Ministry and Department of Education had announced that 4th and 5th Form students at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School who were engaged in technical subjects would be allowed to attend school on Monday, September 27th. These students included those who were taking subjects such as: Auto Mechanics, Building Technology, Construction, and Mechanical Engineering. It was deemed that these classes are small enough the follow the required health protocols, as stipulated by the Ministry of Health.
It was announced, at that time, that should the cases of Covid not increase over the next week or two, consideration would be given to fully reopen all schools. However, if the situation remained unfavourable, then schools would be opened on a phased basis, depending on the epidemiological conditions.
Meanwhile, in the weekly Government Press Conference on Monday September 27th, in the face of rising Covid cases, Minister of Education, Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers spoke regarding the opening of schools:
“I know that a number of working parents would not have been completely satisfied about the approach taken by the Ministry of Education, but when we consider that we have to keep thousands of students safe, across our schools, we realise that we have an obligation to act responsibly, and we must take measures to keep students and teachers safe.
“This situation is not unique to Anguilla, of course. This is what most Caribbean territories are facing right now as far as physical school attendance is concerned. We were not prepared, given the type and level of Covid transmission, to reopen schools today, September 27th. That being said, we have discussed a plan to enter into a phased opening approach.
“Anguilla is in a fortunate position, but still we must be reminded that our hospital resources are much more limited than many of the neighbouring islands, and our ability to social distance might be more challenging, given the state of our physical school infrastructure, especially at the high school at the moment.
The Minister encouraged parents, therefore, to be patient as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health work together to formulate a phased reopening schedule for the schools, even in the face of rising Covid cases.
