Dominica/July 29, 2020/Source: https://dominicanewsonline.com/

Assistant Chief Education Officer Dr. Jeffrey Blaize says the Ministry of Education continues to work closely with the Ministry of Health, Wellness and New Health Investment on decisions relating to student engagement in the physical classroom space come September 2020.

Students were forced to stay home and conduct work via Google classroom online due to the threat posed by the Covid-19 Pandemic.

“Moving forward to the reopening of our schools, we know that it will be similarly challenging, however protocol, guidelines and action points are being conceptualized to ensure that our students and our staff are operating in a comfortable, safe learning environment,” Dr. Blaize said recently at a news conference.

He continued, “We do have a range of options, however, spanning from regular schooling to shift systems if necessary to ensure that our students can access their education in a safe environment.”

Dr. Blaize said further that the Ministry of Education is also working closely with our local, regional and international partners to ensure that schools are physically ready to accommodate students in the upcoming academic year.

“Consequently, we intend to engage in a number of activities in that regard,” the education official noted. “We intend to significantly increase the number of water troughs at our schools to ensure that we place handwashing as a priority for our students and staff.”

He said the schools will be equipped with additional dispensers for sanitization and “will increase cleaning supplies to our schools as well as increase the engagement of our cleaners.”

Dr. Blaize also said that the Ministry of Education will erect signs to raise awareness of students and the general public on protocol and related measures in this regard.

News Source:

Ministry of Education working to ensure that students return to ‘comfortable, safe learning environment’ -Jeffrey Blaize