Traditional in-person classes could be offered in schools in the southern islands
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd indicated yesterday the government is partnering with a number of entities, including churches, to offer “care centres” — supplemental classrooms off campus to accommodate students.
In an interview with Eyewitness News, the minister said the measure was eyed due to a lack of physical space to socially distancing in schools on more densely populated islands such as New Providence.
The care centers will be staffed with ministry approved education officials, outfitted with appropriate technology and high-speed WiFi, and identified in close proximity to the respective schools as a “school off campus”.
He said, for example, St Agnes Anglican Church’s schoolroom would be used to accommodate students of CR Walker. Both institutions are located off Baillou Hill Road.
“We are well on our way to engaging quite a number of them,” Lloyd said.
He added: “Some students would be on campus and others would be in the care center; still being instructed by the teacher; still being instructed in real-time, but just on a different campus, so that we can observe social distancing.”
According to Lloyd, when schools open on September 21 learning will be facilitated virtually across the country with the intention of transitioning to one of two models: blended learning and traditional in-person learning, depending on the spread of the virus in various jurisdictions.
He said traditional in-person classes could be offered in schools in the southern islands of The Bahamas for example where there have been few or zero cases of COVID-19.
He said on islands such as New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco and others, which he described as “urban centers”, a blended learning approach is more feasible.
He pointed out that the epidemiology of the virus will determine when this can occur.
Lloyd said: “One size does not fit all and there are some islands that can go with one model and other islands can go with another, and those three models [are] face-to-face instruction or what we call blended learning or virtual school, pure online learning.
“Now, some islands because of the nature of the health conditions on those islands can go ahead with face-to-face instructions. Other islands will have to adopt the more blended approach and then of course there is the entirely online.
“It was determined by the Ministry of Education that at the start of our school year, September 21, the entire system will go online. And then, as conditions permit, we will transition to one of those models, either face-to-face or blended.
“It is quite likely that islands in the south, MICAL for instance, Acklins, Crooked Island, Long Cay and so on; smaller populations and schools, they are easily able to accommodate the face-to-face with no problems in observing the health protocols, physical distancing and wearing masks and so on.”
He added that depending on the spread of the virus, it could be that only virtual learning is facilitated for the entire semester.
10,000 devices
To accommodate student learning in care centres for those without electronic devices, the government will loan out devices such as tablets.
According to the minister, the government has budgeted for 10,000 devices, noting the 5,000 students who utilize the government’s lunch voucher program will likely need the assistance and an additional 5,000 students is estimated to require state intervention.
He said the government continues to work with its partner Aliv and a range of non-governmental organizations in this vein.
Asked about the readiness of public schools teachers, Lloyd said programs continue to be offered to them, but they are “ready to go”.
He said additional courses and training will be offered in the first two weeks of September to further educating online and how to maximize engagement.
The ministry began an extensive digitization program in 2019.
Since launching its remote virtual learning in mid-March, over 50,000 students have registered for classes.
Of some 60 schools in the Family Islands, Lloyd said about 60 percent of digitization works has been completed.
He said the process should be fully completed before the end of October.
It was announced in June that the ministry spent $12 million on infrastructural upgrades to transition to “smart schools”.
According to Lloyd, the conversion has been completed in New Providence, Grand Bahama and Eleuthera.
