The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

PUBLIC school students under quarantine will still be allowed to sit the 2021 national examinations provided they meet the criteria established by the Ministry of Education, Education Minister Jeff Lloyd said yesterday.

According to officials, only those students under quarantine who have been directed by the Ministry of Health, who have not tested positive for the virus or displayed any COVID-19 symptoms or are under quarantine but do not live with anyone who is COVID-19 positive are eligible to take the exams.

Yesterday, Mr Lloyd said quarantined students who meet the criteria and have been approved by health officials will be accommodated by his ministry and permitted to sit this year’s exams.

However, he said when students come with high temperatures at the designated testing site, they will not be allowed to take exams.

“We are going to provide a place for those students who will be given that opportunity to sit the exams,” he told reporters yesterday. “Of course, we are guided as I indicated by the health officials and the protocols that they’ve established. We want every child to have an opportunity to sit an exam.

“Now, there are those who will not qualify. For instance, if a child presents at the centre and has elevated temperature, the child will not be permitted to sit the exams, or the child has not been cleared from the Ministry of Health. Only in those circumstances, the Ministry of Health will be sending information to the schools or the administrators in the schools and will be indicating these are the students who are eligible to sit the exams based on the information that the ministry has at that particular time.

“So, these will really and only include those who have no symptoms and who have not tested positive or those who are living with somebody who has not tested positive or have not been exposed.”

In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Education said representatives from the Ministry of Health’s surveillance team will contact schools to inform them which quarantined students are allowed to sit the national exams.

As for what will happen to those students in isolation who are unable to take the important tests this year, Mr Lloyd said they will have the opportunity to do so in 2022. “If you’re not allowed to take it in this particular circumstance, you are not going to be able to take it any further than now because then the integrity of the exam is compromised and that obviously we cannot compromise the exam’s integrity,” he said.

Mr Lloyd said while the situation will not greatly impact students taking BJCs, it can affect those taking BGCSE exams, specifically those applying for scholarships or universities which may require test results.

“It is the BGCSE what is of great concern to us because those students who miss it this year will have probably difficulty in getting into the University of The Bahamas or qualifying for scholarships or universities abroad so that is of great concern to us so that is why we insist that persons follow the protocols where possible and certainly for an adult standpoint, to get vaccinated,” he said.

Asked how many students officials expect to be affected, he said: “I don’t have specific numbers, but my information is we’re talking about a little bit. We’re not talking about a bunch of people. Dozens rather than hundreds.”

The Grade Level Assessment tests (GLAT) for third and sixth graders began on Monday. Meanwhile, BJC and BGCSE examinations are to continue until June 25.

Schools closed in March 2020 as a result of the pandemic, but were later reopened after the summer break last October.

However, schools in New Providence, Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma were teaching virtually until given the go-ahead to begin phased face-to-face learning in February. In May, officials announced public schools would return to virtual learning to reduce the chance of COVID-19.

Yesterday, Mr Lloyd said officials remain optimistic schools will resume normal operations in September.

“We are looking forward to that,” he said. “As soon as our population gets vaccinated, we are looking at returning to whatever you describe normalcy to be so we are looking forward to a September return to what you consider face-to-face learning for most of our and if not, all of our schools but again, it depends on the population being vaccinated.”