raphael.lall@guardian.co.tt
Pro Vice-Chancellor and St Augustine Campus Principal, University of the West Indies (UWI) Brian Copeland announced that all members of staff will return for face-to-face work from June 6.
“We have been through a lot together since March 2020 and we could not have arrived at this point without your absolute support. Our sustained operations as a campus would not have been assured were it not for some colleagues who remained physically on-site to ensure that our premises remained safe, operational, and secure. We owe them a great debt of thanks. This has been a challenging time for all of us,” he said.
UWI originally suspended classes in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in T&T.
He added that when UWI resumed on January 3, campus operations looked similar to the last semester with the institution continuing to operate in a largely virtual mode. However, as the COVID-19 transitions from pandemic to endemic, there has been a relaxation of protocols. Primary and secondary school students are back to school, and tertiary institutions will return to face-to-face teaching.
Copeland reminded staff that the Government had mandated all tertiary education institutions to work toward reopening in full by the next academic year. He said UWI must prepare to resume face-to-face teaching in September.
“As a result, all members of staff will be required to return to full-time, face-to-face operations on Monday, June 6, 2022, to further support our preparation efforts and ensure that our students and other stakeholders receive high-quality in-person service,” he advised.
President of the UWI Student Guild Kobe Sandy said the Guild has not officially been informed of the return of face-to-face operations but the student body is waiting to see what the campus administration will say about the full reopening of the campus.
“We wait in great anticipation as we can’t get any last-minute notice because we have a lot of students who must make preparations. I have always been informing the campus of timely communication,” he said
Sandy said the Guild hopes some of the online elements of learning will be retained although the worst of the pandemic is over.
“It could be a hybrid mode for many students who had an opportunity to receive employment and to have other opportunities while utilising the remote learning environment to help themselves during the pandemic. I think those opportunities should not be wasted nor discarded,” he said.
