Grenada to open schools with new format

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada –Students visiting public schools in Grenada will be attending classes in the format established before the ministries of education and health used and performed physical distancing protocol to contain and control the amount of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“At present, we do not have any evidence of any community spread of COVID in Grenada, we have no clusters under investigations either, in the present circumstance the Ministry of Health recommends the full reopening of schools,” said Dr Shawn Charles, Acting Chief Medical Officer during the weekly post-cabinet briefing on Tuesday.

“We do recognise that schools play a very important role in the development of children, the longer the schools remain closed the greater the risk-off a reversal in the educational gains that have been made and of course you limit the children development with regards to education and otherwise,” said Charles, flanked by members of the National COVID-19 Response Committee.

“We know that the longer schools remain closed the greater the risk for our children. There will be more expensive rates of failures, some children will just fall off the radar, we know that when kids are home unsupervised, they are vulnerable, they are at an improved risk of injury and exploitation,” he added.

In the immediate aftermath of COVID-19, the Ministry of Education adopted a blended method of learning in which students were taught using an e-learning program and short in-person classes. For in-person sessions, schools had to comply with three-metre physical distancing measures, resulting in students receiving two or three sessions per week.

Dr Charles said accompanying school the usual way gives students a chance to access new childcare services that will add to their progress and accompanying classes online do not give such an opportunity.