Ministry Continues Efforts to Get Children Back in School

The Ministry’s push to get students back into the classroom comes with some level of urgency. The Minister of Education says being out of the classroom not only has negative social and psychological effects on students, but also vulnerable children can become victims of violence.

Francis Fonseca, Minster of Education, Culture, Science and Technology

“As you all know, it is a very complex issue. But certainly, education, our education system has to play a critical role in resolving this issue. So, we have to make strategic investments in education, in these vulnerable communities. As you rightly said, when our young people are out of the school system, that provides opportunities for these problems to arise, these challenges to be exasperated. So, we want them back in the classroom. And, that is one of the reasons we have been pushing so hard, trying so hard to get our classrooms back, to get our students back into the class room in a safe and reasonable way. As well as the violence, you know there are lots of social and psychological impacts, negative impacts on our students, being outside of the classroom, not being with friends, not being around the support system that normally comes with the education system. So, it is a big challenge, but we understand that challenge and we are absolutely committed to doing everything we can to ensure our students get back into the classroom and that we do our part as the Ministry of Education, as we have been trying to do to meet those challenges, to work with other stakeholders, to work with other Ministries, to address the crisis that is facing our young people in this country.”