With the vaccination of children 12 years and older expected to begin this weekend, Education Minister Fayval Williams has already hinted at the prospect of prioritising vaccinated children for the resumption of face-to-face classes in the upcoming school year.

Speaking during a joint press conference between the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information on Thursday (August 19), Williams relayed the importance of the vaccination of students and teachers to the reopening prospects for face-to-face education.

Though highlighting that unvaccinated children will not be placed at a disadvantage as far as schooling is concerned, since the ministry intends to continue its employment of blended learning modalities, that is, online/virtual and face-to-face classes, Williams noted that priority for face-to-face classes would be given to vaccinated children.

She stated: “We would love all our students to come forward to be vaccinated but, in the event they are not, we will still have our online school going and we are giving priority to those students who would be fully vaccinated to return to face to face.”

She added: “For those who are not, they will be accommodated in the online/virtual world. Of course, as more of the Pfizer vaccines come on stream and they become vaccinated then they would be in the face- to-face environment…”.

While acknowledging that the education sector had so far made significant strides in the vaccination of teachers, with some 68 per cent receiving at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, Williams appealed to parents to bring their children out this weekend to be vaccinated to increase the possibilities of a face-to-face education return sooner rather than later.

When asked whether there was a specific vaccination target on which the resumption of face-to-face classes relied, Williams stated: “There is no set percentage. Officially the school year starts September 1. The first teaching day will be Monday, September 6 and on this day we will start all of our primary and high schools in the virtual world.”

She continued: “For our primary, we believe that by the middle of September we would be able to be in the face-to-face mode. For our high schools, considering the vaccination that we will start this weekend, we believe that by the middle of October those who are vaccinated will be back in the face-to-face mode.”