New School Term Begins Online on Monday

The 2021 – 2022 school term begins on Monday, September 6, amid concerns around the COVID-9 pandemic, that continues to wreak havoc across the globe. Classes will begin using online or computer-aided learning, audiovisual, and the printed learning packages or kits.

The Ministry of Education has redoubled tripled and quadrupled efforts to reach students who were unreachable last year, remaining true to its mission of not leaving any child behind. While many parents have already started to prepare themselves to send their children back to school, the third wave of the Coronavirus had other plans. Education Minister Fayval Williams has announced that the 2021/2022 school year will resume online come Monday, September 6.

A decision was taken after the various Ministries considered the risk factors. Williams is however optimistic that with at least the vaccination of 65% or more of the school population, face-to-face can resume.

The Education Minister says the government is working assiduously to fix the major problem of the digital divide by handing out more tablets to students who were unreachable last year.

The reformatting of the teacher-to-student ratio will also be taken into consideration. Minister Williams says the implementation of the additional two years of high school will also begin for students who complete grade 11 and want alternative opportunities alongside the traditional sixth form cape curriculum. 

Williams reassured the public that schools under the special education umbrella won’t be forgotten. Come January 2022 Williams says character education will be part of the curriculum that will aim to educate students about their rights and duties as citizens, teach them a sense of diligence, among other character-building skills.