St Lucia: Senator Guibion Ferdinand Saint Lucia Labour Party Spokesperson for Education made a statement on the school reopenings.
The Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) notes the announcement by the Department of Education regarding the reopening of the school, scheduled for Monday, January 11th, 2021.
Owing to several concerns expressed by key stakeholders of education (including the Early Childhood Administrators and the St. Lucia Teachers Union), the SLP urges the Government to take heed of these concerns. Among the issues raised are a lack of consultation, as expressed by the early childhood administrators, and concerns of schools’ sanitization as expressed by the SLTU.
The SLP also notes that the Government has not re-implemented and expanded the one laptop per child programme. Neither have they adapted to ensure that the use of technology in schools becomes a priority – an area in which the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted as essential for schooling.
The Saint Lucia Labour Party has consistently articulated that the education of our children must be made a priority and believes that the teaching/learning environment should be safe and conducive to instruction. Therefore, any decision to return students and staff to the physical school environment should be made with due care and consideration for all stakeholders’ health and safety concerns.
In this case, we call on the government to ensure that a good thing is NOT done badly; that they address these and other legitimate stakeholder concerns to avoid unnecessary difficulties with the safe reopening of school. Our children deserve the best, and we wish them good health and success, especially during these uncertain times.
Current situations of the COVID-19 are very much concerning; St Lucia is also doing their best to fight against this virus, said health officials to the Associates Times.
On his statement, a resident of St Lucia Enchanting said, “The minister of education said she never promised to give every child a device. During an address on International Children’s day, she made the promise.”
