Education Minister, Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly MP, is expected to give the country an update this afternoon, on the situation with the return to physical school of the nation’s school children.
The Minister will host a news conference on the matter today, Wednesday 20th October 2021 at 2:00 pm, at the Ministry of Education’s offices at St Vincent Street in Port of Spain.
Minister Gadsby-Dolly is expected to speak on the return to in-person teaching of Forms 4–6 students in Secondary Schools, as well as the possibility for students in Forms 1–3, in addition to updating the country on CAPE results and other education-related matters.
It is also anticipated the education minister will speak on the status of online instruction for those students who are not receiving in-person tutoring.
Parents across the country have been concerned that online instruction may be stopped, as teachers continue to face technical and other challenges conducting online classes. In addition, parents are concerned that their children may be encountering unvaccinated teachers when in-person classes resume.
Teachers say juggling both online and in-person teaching is a major struggle, as well. Teachers also are concerned that they may be encountering unvaccinated pupils in the classroom, as COVID-19 case numbers in the country remain fairly high.
Only last week, the teachers’ union—the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA)—advised secondary school teachers to discontinue teaching virtually if all forms of secondary school pupils are brought out to face-to-face classes.