Will Schools Physically Reopen on October 4th?
The planned reopening of schools for face-to-face learning does not seem like a good idea with the climbing COVID-19 numbers. While many students, ages twelve to seventeen, have been vaccinated, is it advisable that schools reopen? Word from the Ministry of Education is that schools can reopen on October fourth for hybrid learning, following the revised guidelines of the Ministries of Health and Education. Today we also ask Doctor Melissa Diaz-Musa about her take on school reopening.
Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa
Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa, Deputy Regional Health Manager, Central Health Region
“Come October fourth, we have to take many things into account. We’ve got to look at our positivity rate and see that that rate is so high; it was seventeen yesterday, but it is fluctuating between ten and eighteen over the last few days. And an important thing with opening school is to open school the safest way possible. So we need to drive this positivity rate down as quickly as possible.
I think it is really important that the educational aspect of our kids is taken into account. The same way we’ve kept open certain economic areas in our country, the education of our kids is so important, it’s paramount. And when you look at the entire system, education has been the…since March of last year, our kids have not been back in school. We’ve got to look at the safest way, what schools are ready; we’ve also got to look at the community, what’s available, the internet access – all these things. We’ve got to look at the hybrid way of going back. We can’t go back to what we were used to or the original way where all thirty kids are in school and you have eight hours in the day or six hours. We’ve got to be flexible, we’ve got to be safe and we’ve got to look at the areas in education that is absolutely necessary.”
CEO in the Ministry of Education Dian Maheia told News Five today that there are revised guidelines from her ministry and the Ministry of Health and Wellness and formal information on this will be shared soon.
