Measures will be taken to secure students on reopening of schools

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, William Vincent Hodge assures that steps will be taken to secure the students of St Kitts and Nevis for this upcoming school term by issuing thermometers, carrying out temperature checks and making the wearing of masks mandatory for students.

He said this during his appearance on the virtual forum series Leadership Matters on August 11 where he spoke about education in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said, “When we got permission from the Task Force for 5th formers to come back to campus to complete their SBA’s and to have extra classes, they actually started to observe these protocols.”

Mr Hodge says he now expects these measures to be extended to all students coming back to school at both the secondary and primary level.

“We have a template that we hope can be developed into a booklet where this information is recorded for each student because, on a daily basis, students have to go through these screening checks to ensure that we don’t have anyone who is coming into the schools showing signs,” he said. “If that is the case, when they are checked at the gate, they would not be allowed to enter, parents would be called so that students can go to seek medical attention.”

Additionally, “If they are already on campus throughout the day and they develop symptoms, schools are expected to have a designated area called the sickbay where students and adults would have to be kept until they can seek medical attention.”