The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis says the government is still aiming to reopen schools for face-to-face learning within two weeks, though he said the decision will ultimately depend partly on advice from health officials.

Mr Davis toured several schools under renovation yesterday with Education Minister Glenys Hanna Martin and Works Minister Alfred Sears.

 “We are still aiming to have the schools open within two weeks or as quickly as possible,” he told reporters.

 Addressing students, he added: “I know that you are anxious to be with your friends, to learn with your friends and to interact with your friends. That’s the best means of learning, by being amongst people that you are comfortable with. I’m promising them that we will get you back into classrooms as quickly as possible.

 “This exercise here we are dealing with was one of the challenges with opening schools, which was that the actual plant, the schools, were in dire need of repairs.

 “The good news here is that the variant that is rampant does not in fact have the consequences as previous variants and we are watching that and we are analysing it now... We do note though that we’ve yet to have vaccines for children and we are working assiduously to have it in. We also note that vaccines are not available for children under five years of age which would impact our pre-schools and we intend to at least try to have, very soon, vaccines for children in the country.”

 Asked why schools have not been reopened even as other gatherings have taken place in the country, Mr Davis said: “If I were to give an educated guess, knowing that we don’t have vaccines in the country for children, they are more susceptible to contracting the virus than those who would have been vaccinated and if they were to contract the virus the outcome would be far different than if they were in fact vaccinated. Do we take that chance with the lives of our children, I think not.”

 Mr Davis did not say whether the government will tighten requirements for inter-island travel as cases continue to surge.

 “Part of our challenge is we’re an archipelago and the virus is occurring in each community at different scales and so, depending on which island you’re coming from and going to, (that) will dictate what necessary measures have to be put in place. So, it is very difficult to answer that question in a way that will be in any degree of certainty. All we can say is that measures that we put in place for inter-island travel will depend on the risks involved from one island to the next,” he said.

 Mr Davis reiterated the government’s position that harsh restrictions like curfews and lockdowns are off the table.

“I’m relying on you, I’m relying on the Bahamian people,” he said. “We know that we are best when we are in trouble. We come to each other’s rescue. There’s no need in our view for lockdown or for curfew. What we need to do is be responsible one to another and understand that one of the worst things that I could imagine is if I have COVID and I am spreading it to you because I wouldn’t want to be responsible for the consequences.”

 Officials had planned to reopen public schools in the second week of January with a hybrid model involving face-to-face instruction.

 However, in late December, Health Minister Dr Michael Darville said the resumption of face-to-face learning in public schools had been postponed by at least two weeks as officials grappled with the fourth wave of COVID-19.

 The Ministry of Education, Technical and Vocational Training later said all public and private schools could only reopen this month on a fully virtual basis. This does not apply to daycare centres. The ministry said this decision would be revisited within 14 days at which time a further assessment will be conducted in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Wellness.