There was a sense of excitement and nervousness among pupils of Standard Five and students of Forms One to Three in Port- of-Spain on Monday as physical school resumed for them for the first time in two years.
“She was up on time and just ready to go,” Narissa Kanchan, a parent of St Catherine’s Girls’ Anglican School student said.
“He hug me so tight this morning you know it’s like mommy I want to go but I don’t want to go,” another parent of a Woodbrook Secondary School student said.
Kanchan told Guardian Media her daughter needed socialisation because her mental health deteriorated in the two years she was away from school.
“She did experience a bit of downtime, depression wise because she just wasn’t her usual self but this is going to help a lot,” she explained.
But she’s not the only one, another parent, Hollene Nanton said her daughter missed interacting with her teachers and peers.
“This is her thing, back in the classroom,” she said.
The parents at both St Catherine’s Girls’ and Richmond Street Boys’ Anglican Schools said they were comfortable with the protocols put in place at the institutions.
“We had a meeting with the principals and teachers and they have everything in place for them and I trust their plan,” Nanton said.
On Sunday, Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, in a video posted to the Ministry’s Facebook page, said the ministry took the necessary measures to protect the students.
St James Secondary School students take their temperatures before going to their class yesterday.
KERWIN PIERRE
She said the ministry also spoke to the National Maintenance Training and Security Company Limited (MTS) to clean more.
While outside St Catherine’s Girls’ School, Guardian Media saw cleaners sanitising the staircase and pupils had to wash their hands and take their temperature before entering the compound.
Some parents also briefed their children about what they needed to do to stay safe.
“We went through at least a week before in terms of making sure he had on his mask and so on for that week to ensure he’s accustomed to it. We had the conversation of keeping his distance, making sure that his surroundings are clean,” a parent of Richmond Street Boys’ said.
But while Standard Five pupils were able to sanitise and see their peers within minutes, the process at some secondary schools where more students came out took longer.
There were lines at Woodbrook Secondary School and Signal Hill Secondary School in Tobago.
“Welcome, Welcome to Woodbrook Secondary,” one teacher said as she walked along the line.
Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly and Lisa Morris-Julian visit El Dorado West Secondary School
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Linell Covey, who attended Signal Hill Secondary for the first time on Monday, said she’s prepared to follow the protocols and was just excited to be back out.
“I am very happy,” she said.
Dakarai Melville, who attended Scarborough Secondary School, shared the same sentiment.
