The man at the helm of the Education Ministry has announced plans to have all schools, that remain closed due to the effects that Tropical Storm Erika, will reopen by Monday the 28th of September 2015 but on a shift system.
“We will open for all students on Monday 28,” Saint Jean said the radio show, Focus on Government and Development on Thursday night.
He explained that as of the 21st of September, eight schools in some of the hardest hit communities around the island remain shuttered.
These schools are Coulibistrie Primary, Convent Preparatory, Massacre Primary, Roseau Primary, Colihaut, Dublanc, Wesley and Petite Savanne Primary.
The Education Minister informed that the Massacre and Bagatelle Primary school re-opened on Tuesday 22 of September 2015, while the Delices Primary had to be relocated to the Delices Youth Center.
He stated that Pioneer Preparatory School, which according to him faced ‘serious challenges,’ is now operating on a shift system with Orion Academy.
The also stated that on Tuesday, officials from the Ministry of Education met with the Parent Teacher’s Association (PTA) met with some non-functional schools such as the Dublanc, Colihaut, Coulibistrie and Salisbury primary schools.
He noted that it was agreed upon that the Salisbury Primary school will operate on a shift system with Coulibistrie, while Dublanc Primary will operate on a shift system with Colihaut Primary.
“We had to make a number of adjustments and modifications because there were some communities that still are without pipe borne water,” Saint Jean stated, adding that with the help of the Dominica Water and Sewage Company (DOWASCO) water storage tanks were procurred and these have been set up at some schools without pipe borne water.
“We will see schools like Salisbury, Coulibistrie, Dublanc back on track,” Saint Jean noted.
The shift system, he explained, will see two schools operate in one building at different times.
One session will begin at 8:00 in the morning and end at 12.30 in the afternoon, while the other one begins 1:00 pm and ends at 5:00 pm.
Saint Jean noted that Colihaut Preschool students will attend the Dublanc Preschool.
Transportation will be provided for all students.
I work with education and I would like parents to note that DGS 1st form – third form would NOT be attending school today. so please listen to your radio. This information about DGS was already disseminated via radio.
Also to the parents asking if Roseau Primary is opening today, the article states “eight schools in some of the hardest hit communities around the island REMAIN shuttered. These schools are …ROSEAU PRIMARY.”
And DNO you made an error. In paragraph 4 it is stated that Massacre is closed but in paragraph 5 it states that Massacre opened on 22 September. Please note that Massacre primary is open.
To those of you who are unaware, shuttered means closed. Therefore Roseau Primary is closed, it is NOT opened today. Please listen to your radio as the date for the opening of Roseau Primary will be announced.
Thank you.
will be rough at first but eventually it will get better. So hun the Educators are trying their best to ensure that each child continues his or her education so the least you all can do as parents is make the sacrifice and endure the little hardship with your child going school at 12 for the time being until everything is organized.
Petter St Jean, stop fooling the people. Is the sme manner in which u reproclaimed that the tablets would be mae uavailable to stdents uhe reopening of the new school yea Monday Sept 07, 2015. The storm covered on Thursday August 27, 2015 so don’t tell me that the storm affected delivery since that ‘s one week prior to schools being reopened. So where’s the tablets, Sir?
A promise is a comfort to fools so please don’t treat us as such.
When seeking emergency accommodation in Roseau, was the stadium ever considered? Under the stands there are lots of spaces, seldom used, that could have been temporarily sub-divided. Plus, there are toilets, showers, etc.
More and more, Saint Jean is demonstrating how Inept and Clueless he and this Administration really is. Did Skerrit simply drop some names in a bag and ask these NINCOMPOOPS TO CHOOSE A PORTFOLIO? IS HE ACTUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR DECISION MAKING IN TERMS OF OUR CHILDREN’S Education. How on Earth does this guy qualify for being at the Helm of EDUCATION MINISTRY? SO MANY QUESTIONS IT IS mind boggling! Kids are our future and if so, should be protected at all cost. There has to be a plan of action, which clearly is not the case. This guy is just making it up as he goes along on a trial and error basis. This Administration lacks vision & it’s evident in every area. Making it impossible to move forward. Continue this path, kids will lag behind & the School system rated worst in the Region. This is a travesty! Our kids deserve better and SOMETHING DRASTIC NEEDS TO BE DONE quickly.
The misspelt words I’m going to put to typo error, however this level of INCOMPETENCE, is inexcusable!
Does anybody know if “all students” means Grammar School also ? DGS reopens monday YES or NOT ?
With the exception of the Coulibistrie, Colihaut and Petite Savanne primary schools, should other schools in Dominica lose a month of classes because of Erika?
It appears that a crime has been committed against the children of this country with regards to their education. With brand new apartments in Bath Estate and Elmshall, the DGS should never have been used as a shelter for that long. A week or two, yes but going on forever is a crime.
Other schools remain close because of pipe borne water, the Ministry of Education could not install 5no. 1000 gallon tanks and have them filled by water trucks to allow school to reopen? I thought that a standby water tank was a necessity for every school facility? If we were struck by a real hurricane, children would be out of school for the whole year and those who can afford would ship their children out, like what happened after Hurricane David. Do I see signs of incompetence? Yes I do.
i dont agree with you some of your comment cause if you have children going to school i’m sure you wouldnt want to send your children school and no water is there to flush the toilet…some children doe like to or cannot use toilet that dirty…and no water to drink and even if they use the toilet no water to wash their hands and it all about in their snacks, in their face and other children face and thats just nasty….you cannot blam the ministry for keeping school close cause after erika rain never finish fall and it had other systems creating themselves… so you dont want to send your child school and while he or she in school another system pass and you never know what can happen and is then Dominicans gonna start to blame the government and education for opening school to cause whatever to happen to allu children
So y can’t the dgs operate on are shift system too.
Roseau Primary ? DGS ?
does anybody know if DGS reopens monday ???? i guess YES (“all students”..), Someone to confirm ?
Am i the only one to understand nothing about this announcement ?
It’s not clear !
what about Grammar School ? 1st to 3rd form ?
PARENTS, LET’S GO ALL TOGETHER MONDAY MORNING WITH OUR CHILDREN TO GRAMMAR ! THE ANNOUNCEMENT SAYS “FOR ALL STUDENTS”. ALL = INCLUDED GRAMMAR NO ?
We should keep them closed as they produce nothing. Why call them schools when they should be called indoctrination centers that only produce socialist Dominicans who are not taught to think but recite what they are told, where children are taught Gaia worship like ancient greece, an indoctrination system that never produces inventors, mathematicians or artists.
What is Education? When the minister of education make decisions on an unacknowledable basis you ought to ask yourself, is the educated truely educated?
A school is not a pen house where at times the gate is open to release the animals and reopens to let them in, proper planning and preparation most be put in place to make what is to be the learning environment suitable for learning.
St. Jean is proud to announce the opening of schools, the children are still awaiting words of the 7500 tablets which were promised since 2014. Did Kelver and Skeritt trick the parents but promising their children tablets, only to get their votes.
Go buy your own tablet! All you too like to play heavy on people! Go on Apple and buy an IPad! Now is not time to be talking about damn tablet! All u Dominicans too up!
What about the Roseau Primary,no indication as to when the School is going to be re-opened bearing in mind that people still occupy the school.
the announcement says “all students”, so let’s go to Roseau Primary monday morning with children.
There’s no mention of the 1st to 3rd formers of the DGS in the article titled “Remaining Schools to be Opened.” It’s interesting that the hundreds of students of the DGS are not mentioned in these plans. What about them?
what about Roseau Primary ? back to school monday ?
does anybody have any information about DGS for monday ?
it is said the plan is for “all students”. So probably DGS is in the “all”. Let’s say it reopens monday and that’s it !
Is it really necessary for a school with 30 students to have to operate on a shift system. Couldn’t these schools simply be temporarily combined as one school? What a waste of resources.
And furthermore, was any consideration given to the fact that some kids may come home at 12:30 when there are no adults at home (they are at work until 4pm), or that primary school kids will have to get themselves ready for school at 12 (as parents are at work)?
I personally feel that with the small roll of these schools, they could have been combined. It is just for a few months.
Do you want skerrit to open a daycare centre for your kids too. Who were the kids staying home with during the summer vacation, Skerrit. Stups learn to do things for yourself parents stop being difficult.
will be rough at first but eventually it will get better. So hun the Educators are trying their best to ensure that each child continues his or her education so the least you all can do as parents is make the sacrifice and endure the little hardship with your child going school at 12 for the time being until everything is organized.
First of all there is a classroom capacity. You cannot expect to pack these children in a classroom. The classroom would be over crowed and hot . NOT a good environment for a child. Even if is 30 children , every classroom has a maximum capacity based on its size according to the educational act which was in place for the safety of your child. Secondly , as to your point of waste of resources, if we were to join these schools as one and only keep one teacher so as not to quote and quote waste resources, teachers would be out of work. You have to understand that after this disaster a lot people lost a lot and you cannot take away their daily bread too. Lastly, We Dominicans need to face reality. A disaster happened. Domnica was severely damaged . Do you understand that? Therefore we as a people need to make SACRIFICES to build back Dominica. Do you understand what I mean by sacrifice? You don’t expect every thing to be normal and easy. It will be rough at first but eventually it…
will be rough at first but eventually it will get better. So hun the Educators are trying their best to ensure that each child continues his or her education so the least you all can do as parents is make the sacrifice and endure the little hardship with your child going school at 12 for the time being until everything is organized.