Like a passing cloud, our discussions about the SEA performance of our children have come and dissipated. While we anticipated that there would be some learning loss due to the effects of Covid on our schools and our children’s education, the results are astounding. In every tier of the results, …
Read More »Noble: ‘Bringing children back into school is not a simple case of opening the doors’
Education is an essential foundation of a society. Yet, the pandemic has laid bare the reality of our school system. Thanks to the Ministry of Health’s media conferences, we have been able to know the death rate and the capacity of our hospitals. But there are no comparable statistics available …
Read More »PAHO: Children face significant Covid risk, but countries must do everything ‘to safely reopen schools’
“[…] With each day that children go without in-person schooling, the higher the likelihood that they drop out and never return to school. For some of the most vulnerable children—particularly for our girls—this can have lasting consequences. “Experts agree that the pandemic has triggered the worst educational crisis we have ever seen in the …
Read More »Noble: ‘Disadvantaged youths losing opportunity to improve life chances and contribute to national economy’
I am not a professional teacher. But I enjoy teaching and have been leading a group of pre-teens in an under-privileged area (what Bishop Harvey called ‘the belly of the whale’) for the last few years. In the light of the debate about school reopening and the announcement of the …
Read More »Only form 4-6 students return to physical classes; MoE release school reopening guidelines
The Ministry of Education announced that only students in forms four to six will be returning to physical classes when the new school term starts on 12 April. Of those students, the ministry further specifies that they can only report for school for practical subject components like School-Based Assessments (SBAs). …
Read More »Dr Gadsby-Dolly reveals new ‘hybrid system’ as forms four to six students return to school on 8 February
Secondary school students from forms four to six will return to physical classrooms on 8 February, in a new ‘hybrid system’ that will involve a combination of online and in-person learning. Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly provided details on the re-opening of schools at a press conference today, as …
Read More »Daly Bread: Whose ears have stick? Will gov’t finally take presidential advice?
‘Like stick break in yuh ears’ is one of our colloquial expressions, frequently addressed to the stubborn. The admonition can have a contemptuous tone, but our rulers have used it with reference to those who persist in gathering in defiance of coronavirus regulations and common sense. We can use it …
Read More »Gopeesingh: ‘Education system hangs in limbo’
‘[…] with the exception of the few thousand devices donated by private benefactors, the MinEd, and by extension the government, has done absolutely nothing tangible or proactive to secure these much-needed [electronic] devices for our students… […] It is the tragic result of pure mismanagement and blatant incompetence on the …
Read More »Daly Bread: Will T&T continue carrying forward its education deficiency?
The year 2020 ended with continuing limitations on the ability of the weary world to rejoice during the just concluding Christmas season, taken somewhat for granted in the lyrics of Oh Holy Night. Those limitations will be carried forward into what would have been the Carnival season 2021. Of course, …
Read More »Daly Bread: Strokes of the pen of life; the cost of ‘digital poverty’
Our beloved and vibrant niece Sarita had joined us for a day during a sunny Mayaro week. I did not know it at the time, but while the laughter and camaraderie overlooking the beach were at their height, she had shown her aunt something under her arm. Ten days later, …
Read More »Daly Bread: Online school issues condemning T&T students to a learning death sentence
Partisan political delusion invariably masks reality. Sometimes, persisting in the delusion means denying a reality that is capable of irretrievably damaging real people. The current state of online learning contains crippling elements of delusion, so fundamental that it is possible that many children have been condemned to a learning death …
Read More »Curriculum starts between 7-14 Sep with SEA results on 8 Oct, 65,000 can’t access online learning
Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly confirmed today that the school curriculum will begin between 7 and 14 September, as Trinidad and Tobago prepares to enter a phase of remote learning. Schools closed to students in March, due to the novel coronavirus, with learning since then reliant on the resources …
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