Minister Williams Pleased With Measures To Facilitate Face-To-Face Classes
By: , January 5, 2021
Photo: Yhomo Hutchinson
Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams (second right), looks at the temperature log for students of Seaward Primary & Junior High School in Kingston during a visit to the institution on Tuesday (January 5). Looking on (from left) are Principal, Arlene Thomas; Education Officer, Ricardo Kennedy; Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Dasmine Kennedy; and Security Guard at the school, Garfield Gordon (right).
Photo: Yhomo Hutchinson
Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams, (second right) engages with Seaward Primary & Junior High School student, Shardanaye Crawford (left), during her visit to the institution on Tuesday (January 5). Looking on (in background from left) are Education Officer, Ricardo Kennedy; Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Dasmine Kennedy; Vice Principal, Seaward Primary & Junior High School, Carol Gordon Marshall; and Principal, Arlene Thomas.
Photo: Yhomo Hutchinson
Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams (left), looks at the social distance markers at the entrance of Seaward Primary and Junior High School in Kingston, during a visit to the institution on Tuesday (January 5). Looking on (from left) are Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Dasmine Kennedy; Education Officer, Ricardo Kennedy; Vice Principal, Seaward Primary & Junior High School, Carol Gordon Marshall; and Principal, Arlene Thomas.The Full Story
Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams, says she is satisfied with the measures put in place at schools to facilitate face-to-face classes.
“I’m pleased with the care that I see. They have been careful. You can see where they have been planning for this moment of face-to-face and it gives confidence that students who are on the compounds physically are here safely,” she noted.
Mrs. Williams was speaking to JIS News after a tour of three schools in the Corporate Area on Tuesday (January 5) to observe their adherence to the coronavirus (COVID-19) protocols.
The institutions visited were Penwood High, Seaward Primary and Junior High, and Haile Sellasie High.
They are among 125 institutions that were approved for the resumption of face-to-face classes for the second term of the 2020/2021 academic year, which began on Monday (January 4).
This follows the favourable completion of a pilot last November, which involved 17 schools.
Mrs. Williams said that the visit to the schools was to “meet teachers [and] principals on the ground, visit some students in classes, and we’ve been able to do that”.
“We wanted to see how well the schools were observing the COVID protocols and I’ve been pleased, so far, in terms of the visits to schools,” she added.
Mrs. Williams reiterated that all students in Jamaica must be engaged in school, whether remotely or physically, during the pandemic.
She encouraged school administrators to have flexibility with both online and face-to-face classes.
“Schools are allowed to look at their student body and plan for the student body, in terms of allowing some classes on certain days. They’re allowed to do rotation, they’re allowed to do the blended approach, because we know that all students cannot be back on the school compound at the same time,” she noted.