RADHICA DE SILVA
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
With a mere 64 per cent of student attendance in secondary schools on Tuesday, general secretary of the T&T Unified Teachers Association Kady Beckles says some students have been forced to leave school because the pandemic has left their families financially strained.
Speaking on CNC3's The Morning Brew, Beckles said teams from TTUTA visited schools across the country seeking to find out why some students had not returned to classes.
Having toured schools in the Southeastern Division, Beckles said, "We have heard of students staying away from school because they have started to work. The pandemic has not been good for some families."
She added, " School has to do the outreach and then Student Support Services will have to follow through to see how they can bring the children back to the school."
She also said, "We have also received complaints that some students had no money for transportation. Some had to stay at home to look at their younger siblings while their parents went out to work and others had no money for uniforms, although some schools have relaxed the uniform stipulation. We were pleased to see the teachers were out ready to teach as we were back to the pre-pandemic stage."
Beckles also said that some schools were not ready for the return of physical classes.
Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly speak to staff of the ASJA Boys College in San Fernando during a tour on Tuesday.
COURTESY MOE
"In some cases, a few schools had pre-COVID issues that were not fixed. sewer issues, ceiling caving. Work started yesterday in one of the schools. The Ministry has asked principals to submit their complaints following which you get a ticket and then they will contact you when the problem is solved but many of the tickets have not been addressed," Beckles said.
She noted that other schools had no sanitization supplies.
"Primary schools not received direct funding for quite a while and principals are dipping into their pockets to make these things happen," Beckles said.
She noted that the Ministry has insisted that all teachers return to face to face classes and this means teachers should not be engaging in online classes and no asynchronous work.
Based on a release from the Ministry, 64 per cent of students were in attendance at secondary schools, while 77 per cent reported for classes at primary schools.
Minister Gadsby-Dolly at her team visited nine schools on Tuesday, starting at Siparia West Secondary School, then onto Debe Secondary School, Jordan Hill Presbyterian and San Fernando Central Secondary School. Next were ASJA Girls’ and Boys’ Colleges in San Fernando, ASJA Primary School and San Fernando Methodist School; ending with VOS Government Primary School.
On Monday, the Minister said 99 per cent of 600-odd schools were able to welcome students physically.
On this day, teacher and student attendance averaged 84.5 per cent and 65 per cent respectively, while at primary schools, 91 per cent of teachers and 73 per cent of students were in attendance. The Ministry said it will continue to monitor the operations of all schools closely.