St Vincent and Grenadines: Delayed School Reopening Due to Hurricane Repairs

St Vincent and the Grenadines: The new academic year is due to start on September 2^nd, however many schools will stay closed for the 2024/2025 session due to ongoing repair work following Beryl in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Ministry of Education and National Reconciliation stated in a release on Thursday that 10 schools will remain closed amid the start of the academic year 2024/2025.

“Out of these Kingston Preparatory School will commence the new school term on Wednesday, 4^th September,” said the ministry.

Seven other primary schools will start operating from 9^th September including Calder Government School, Mary Hutchinson Primary School (mainland location), Canouan Government School, Lodge Village Government School, Sion Hill Government School, Lower Bay Inc., and the Stephanie Browne Primary School (mainland location).

The remaining two schools will however operate late from 16^th September. These include the Mayreau Government School and Paget Farm Government School. All other schools will start operating from 2^nd September.

This is to be noted that Bishop’s College Kingstown which lost its roof during the hurricane has been reported to start operation on 16^th September.

However, all the technical institutes will start working to normalcy from 2^nd September including Kingston Technical Institute, Barrouallie Technical Institute, Georgetown Technical Institute, and North Leeward Technical Institute. The Campden Park Technical Institute will however open on 9^th September.

The reopening plan was implemented in stages to ensure that each school is completely prepared to welcome children back to a safe and conducive learning environment. The Ministry of Education made these decisions in order to promote the health and well-being of children by working together with administrators and health authorities.

Notably, the schools this year while opening have also taken some important measures to combat the rising cases of Dengue across the nation. The principals have advised the children to wear light-coloured clothing.

The Ministry of Education stated that schools could also help to reduce mosquito breeding by dumping stagnant water gathered in containers around the school grounds and adequately covering stored water.