Minister of Education on Covid measures

[carluva]

While this may be true, the consequences of lower resistance and reduced immunity to germs, viruses and bacteria also needs to be considered. The longer people and kids stay home the less chances of exposure to anything else that will boost resistance and immunity in the long run. So while now kids are all "healthy", continuation of such a "sterile" lifestyle would likely pose health challenges in the long term into adulthood.

I'm home schooling my 7 year old from September while we observe this covid situation. People inconsiderate with things like keeping their kids home for a common cold far less now you have the worry about covid. The schools also using language that does not induce confidence in their systems.


They will encourage parents to keep sick kids home, they will remind children to practice social distancing, they will sanitize at regular intervals, children will be required to wear masks. Schools not able to do this on a norm but ministry want you to believe this will be the new norm.

I feel sorry for anyone who may be forced into sending their kids out for this.

Actually besides Covid, many many other parents i have spoken to all agree that this is the first time in so long that their kids have Not been sick at all, with the quarantine period that we already went through , alot of common colds, flus, viruses, stomach bugs, measels, chicken pox have not had anyone to circulate to, their kids have been very healthy... and i think as long as we dont have too many visitors or people coming and going it should stay that way.
A majority of our sickness comes from people visiting abroad and bringing back their viruses.....

[maj. tom]

Standard five students at primary schools are due to return to classes on Monday (20th July 2020) for a month of revision with teachers for the SEA exam on August 20.

https://newsday.co.tt/2020/07/19/sea-st ... on-monday/

[redmanjp]

Standard five students at primary schools are due to return to classes on Monday (20th July 2020) for a month of revision with teachers for the SEA exam on August 20.

https://newsday.co.tt/2020/07/19/sea-st ... on-monday/

seems parents fraid their child getting covid- all of them wearing masks although it wasn't required

https://newsday.co.tt/2020/07/20/photos-of-the-day-july-20/

anyway if that limits any possible spread i all for it

[bluefete]

Couva Primary School - Std. 5 Booklist. Like they knew Covid was coming in 2020?

[Numb3r4]

Wait why "NOT PINESOL"???

Why is EVERY child supposed to bring that much soap and bleach. I would like to assume that the parents of the class could get together and buy a supply for the general use by the class.

Why does a child need to bring that many garbage bags?

Are there no other brands but Lysol?

[bluefete]

Wait why "NOT PINESOL"???

Why is EVERY child supposed to bring that much soap and bleach. I would like to assume that the parents of the class could get together and buy a supply for the general use by the class.

Why does a child need to bring that many garbage bags?

Are there no other brands but Lysol?

It is a government school and no supplies were sent by the government or they got them very late. Thus the booklist.

PINESOL is not a government approved disinfectant.

[redmanjp]

Couva Primary School - Std. 5 Booklist. Like they knew Covid was coming in 2020?

u sure they didn't simply take last year list and forget to change the year?

[Numb3r4]

Wait why "NOT PINESOL"???

Why is EVERY child supposed to bring that much soap and bleach. I would like to assume that the parents of the class could get together and buy a supply for the general use by the class.

Why does a child need to bring that many garbage bags?

Are there no other brands but Lysol?

It is a government school and no supplies were sent by the government or they got them very late. Thus the booklist.

PINESOL is not a government approved disinfectant.

Wow had no idea that was a Government School....didn't think it was so bad.

[bluefete]

Right now, schools re-opening in September is up in the air with the community spread.

Serious decisions will have to be made about SEA but Elections trumps ALL at the moment.

[VexXx Dogg]

Right now, schools re-opening in September is up in the air with the community spread.

Serious decisions will have to be made about SEA but Elections trumps ALL at the moment.

It's not that simple. Mandatory school closures have a ripple effect on working parents and by extension you can trace that effect all the way to the overall economy. Like the rest of the world, it's about managing risk. Can't lock down indefinitely and subsidize everything if the country coffers are wiped out.

Complacency will exacerbate the spread.

[paid_influencer]

serious talk:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nc ... hools.html

Re-opening schools is important. We should have it as a #1 priority.

We here in Trinidad did it backwards. We re-opened malls, bars, food courts and election fetes first - creating an environment where the virus can spread in the community very easily. Then we are shocked, shocked, when schools get hit.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

Schools reopening delayed, as 10 primary schools close due to Covid-19

The Ministry of Health revealed two more positive Covid-19 cases last night and recommended the closure of two additional schools, as the second wave of the novel coronavirus continues to gather momentum.

Trinidad and Tobago now has 42 locally transmitted cases in the last 14 days. In contrast, when the first locally transmitted case was reported on 27 March, the country tallied 50 more infections within its borders over a four week period before the spread appeared to have stalled on 26 April.

On Sunday, County Medical Officer of Health (County Victoria) Dr Natasha Sookhoo recommended the closure of two more schools as a result of contact tracing: the St Michael’s Anglican Primary and Iere Village Government Primary Schools.

On Saturday, Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh made a notable update to the Public Health Novel Coronavirus regulations, with an order that all primary, secondary and tertiary schools ‘shall not be open for the purpose of providing education’ unless permitted by the minister, or to prepare or provide educational facilities ‘for persons for the purpose of examination for SEA, CSEC [and] CAPE’.

Deyalsingh also ordered that ‘daycares and pre-schools for children shall not be open for business for the care or education of young children unless permitted otherwise by the minister’.

These regulations ‘shall have effect from 2 August 2020 to 30 September 2020’. It suggests that schools will not re-open on Tuesday 1 September as previously expected; and no earlier than Thursday 1 October.

Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) president Antonia Tekah-De Freitas, in a release today, asked the government to go further still and close all schools immediately with SEA preparations done online.

https://wired868.com/2020/08/03/schools ... -covid-19/

[VexXx Dogg]

Update:
Error in date, it's Sep 1.

https://wired868.com/2020/08/03/schools ... -covid-19/

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

Update:
Error in date, it's Sep 1.

https://wired868.com/2020/08/03/schools ... -covid-19/

ah ok didn't see the correction
thanks

[VexXx Dogg]

Source: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... __tn__=K-R

The Bratt Office
4/08/2020

Tuesday Guardian

Reopening schools

“What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give”.
P.D. James, novelist (3 Aug 1920-2014)

Reopening schools is a really difficult decision because the information on how the Covid-19 virus spreads from children is not fully available. Information from countries such as Denmark, Germany, and Sweden who opened their schools some weeks ago and have not had increases in Covid-19 may not be applicable to our situation. Similarly Israel and California which had to shut down their school after an upswing in the disease may also not fit our situation.

Two important points to consider before we open the schools in September are the daily infection rate and the ability of the government to provide school sanitation, classroom distance and especially, PPE to teachers. To control community spread of the coronavirus, the average daily infection rate among those who are tested should not exceed 5 percent. What is it in TT? This is one of those figures we never hear about. What are the government’s plans to protect teachers? In the political baccanal that is Trini electoral politics, has either major party said anything about this?

There are other points to consider and which have to be accepted by a majority of the population before we can consider reopening schools. Most people are not ready for this.

One, the virus is going to be with us forever and ever. So, we have to learn to live with the virus.

We cannot shut down society and wait for the cavalry (vaccine or herd immunity) to come rescue us. Some may like this idea. Stop work, stay home, get paid. The possibility of a breakdown in society is too real for this to be allowed.

For society to function people have to go back to work.

For people to go back to work, children have to be sent to school in some form or fashion. Now we realise what school really means for the majority: a place, outside of the home, to park the children. For the few, a method to leap forward and upward.

There are some interesting findings on Covid-19 and children.
The latest CDC report on schools says, “The best available evidence from countries that have opened schools indicates that COVID-19 poses low risks to school-aged children, at least in areas with low community transmission, and suggests that children are unlikely to be major drivers of the spread of the virus.”

Children are not getting the virus as much as adults. When they get it they do not get as sick. Covid-19 is mainly a disease of adults. Even the occasional very sick child with Covid-19 does not die except in exceptional circumstances and always when the child has an underlying disorder.

So, for practical purposes, children are not as contagious as adults and the younger they are the less contagious. Most children get Covid-19 from adults. Adults get Covid-19 from adults. Children do not give adults Covid-19.

What happens if we do not open the schools?

Uncertainty reigns. People have to make too many changes. Production of food & goods is halted. Stress increases. Partnerships break down. Society begins to break down. Violence increases. Suicides mount. Riots ensue.

Against this background of increasing social tensions are the effects of extended school closure on children: it’s harmful. It can lead to severe learning loss. In the normal August vacation, students lose 20 to 25% of what they learned the previous year. How much more will they lose if the break is extended?

The loss is worse in low income families who do not have the capacity for distance learning through computer systems and especially so in the 16% of our students with disabilities who require physical contact for learning.

Children will lose the opportunity of developing social and emotional skills. A key lesson of school is to learn how to develop and maintain friendships, how to behave in groups, and how to interact and form relationships with people outside of their family. Extended closures increases the likelihood that children engage in unhealthy behaviors. An school environment where students feel safe and connected, is associated with lower levels of depression, thoughts about suicide, social anxiety, and sexual activity, as well as higher levels of self-esteem.

What about those children who depend on school lunches for their basic nutrition? Lockdown decreases the opportunity for physical activity. Physical inactivity and poor nutrition among children are major risk factors for childhood obesity and other chronic health conditions which increases their risk of getting a severe form of Covid-19.

We have to learn to live with Covid and it’s all about risk. There is no such thing as ‘zero risk’ in anything we do, and certainly not during a pandemic. If you don’t want to get Covid, stay locked up in your house until a vaccine is found and hope you don’t fall down in the bathroom. That may be suitable for anyone over 60 who is obese and diabetic.

It may also be necessary for primary schools to open first. It may be necessary to close down bars and restaurants, instead of schools. Or have smaller classes. Or classes outside. Or “bubbles” of children with one teacher. Or alternative school days. Or classes for the children of essential workers. Creative solutions will be necessary. Trade offs will have to take place.

Provided the two major conditions mentioned at the start of this article are met, children should start school in some form or fashion in September.

[Numb3r4]

With the recent spike in cases is that article still relevant?

Serious question.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

[De Dragon]

^^^
Crazy sheit. One week to go and you're still using words "attempts" in relation to the provision of devices? People who have several children in different levels or schools are going to make out how exactly? Didn't one of those pressers say Jan 1st for the school year reopening just last week?

[sMASH]

Fite up and work out the kinks along the way

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^^^
Crazy sheit. One week to go and you're still using words "attempts" in relation to the provision of devices? People who have several children in different levels or schools are going to make out how exactly? Didn't one of those pressers say Jan 1st for the school year reopening just last week?

face to face school classes set to resume in January 2021
all schools are supposed to be doing online or remote classes from Sept 1

[De Dragon]

^^^
Crazy sheit. One week to go and you're still using words "attempts" in relation to the provision of devices? People who have several children in different levels or schools are going to make out how exactly? Didn't one of those pressers say Jan 1st for the school year reopening just last week?

face to face school classes
all schools are supposed to be doing online or remote classes from Sept 1

Yes, but we're still talking devices, internet access, teacher safety etc. How many of those schools were sanitized post GE? How many quarantined teachers will not be able to make it? I know that every single piece cannot be in place, but it seems to me that we're missing some very large ones.

[Numb3r4]

The internet and mobile devices are a big one.

[EFFECTIC DESIGNS]

What happens in January when COVID is not under control and there is no Vaccine?

If they actually go ahead and open schools something the WHO and CDC recommends AGAINST doing then you are basically saying all the lock downs was a wrong call from day one.

I don't see schools reopening in January, but if it doesn't then you are in trouble. This is a lose lose situation and I hope UNC people stop calling in Sadro talk show every night and saying how glad they are about covid not being controlled and people dying just because PNM in power.

[redmanjp]

the new std 5, form 5 & upper 6 students would be much worse off than the past year students. 2 whole terms missed before major exams.

[sMASH]

^^^
Crazy sheit. One week to go and you're still using words "attempts" in relation to the provision of devices? People who have several children in different levels or schools are going to make out how exactly? Didn't one of those pressers say Jan 1st for the school year reopening just last week?

face to face school classes
all schools are supposed to be doing online or remote classes from Sept 1

Yes, but we're still talking devices, internet access, teacher safety etc. How many of those schools were sanitized post GE? How many quarantined teachers will not be able to make it? I know that every single piece cannot be in place, but it seems to me that we're missing some very large ones.

ent the superfast galicia/ocean flower/bridgman services/donna mercedes worked out okay in the end? they get the whole tobago and most of the east/west corridor, they gettin 'er did. the chirren with out internet access wouldnt amount to any ting any ways. they have a pool and a broom, tha go wuk till january

[Numb3r4]

A lot of kids will be left behind.

[zoom rader]

A lot of kids will be left behind.

Sad and it's mostly PNM kids will be left behind

[sMASH]

A lot of kids will be left behind.

Sad and it's mostly PNM kids will be left behind

they were already prepped for 'nutten fuh we, jeddd'.

if this is the course of action the govt has chosen, then so be it. many individuals have started drives to collect e devices to distribute to the less fortunate. if u dont like what gortt has decided, then fall into the drives.

right now, alwaris starring out, so i figure most taxes gonna be funneled to his activity, and to property tax/revenue authority activity.

[Numb3r4]

If folks only knew the state of some of those Gov't schools.

As we speak I've seen some High Schools organising drives to get electronic devices for students, obviously it would mean that kids don't have any.

What about kids who belong to schools that don't have this ability to source devices?