The St Stephen’s Nursery School will remain closed for the remainder of the week after the Ministry of Education’s plan to temporarily relocate students to the nearby Anglican Church failed.
Issues including poor lighting and inadequate lunch arrangements at the church were among the challenges identified by parents and by teachers who tried to facilitate classes there.
Arrangements are to be made for students to engage in classwork online and materials will be distributed to parents to keep the children engaged.
On Tuesday following meetings at the St Stephen’s Anglican Church with executive members of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT), teachers, president of the Association of Public Primary School Principals Ivan Clarke, staff and parents, Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw said the ministry did not have adequate time to ensure the church was a conducive learning environment.

Teachers and parents also complained of the fact students had to walk through the church’s graveyard to access the bathrooms, inadequate ventilation and difficulty conducting five classes in a confined area. The situation was further aggravated when workers came to dig a grave in the cemetery using a drilling machine. They were later instructed by the funeral director to complete the job when classes were dismissed.
There are 145 students enrolled at the school in four nursery and five reception classes. Only the reception classes could be accommodated at the church.
Meanwhile, due to the environmental issues that caused the school to officially close twice last week and on Monday, Archer-Bradshaw said a plan of action “was quickly put in place so that children would not lose additional teaching time” and the ministry had instructed the principal to contact the priest to use the church.
“On Monday we were told that the situation had not been rectified as had been expected on Friday so we decided to take quick action with regard to getting the children in the space . . . Sometimes things don’t always work out,” said Archer-Bradshaw.
“If we had three or four days to come and inspect and so on, I could understand that, but we decided that we would come and we would try with the space and I want to thank the teachers and principal for actually coming and trying,” she added.
Last week, the BUT reported that the Ministry of Education was working with environmental health officers to address the problem. A neighbour who raised chickens had promised to have the pens cleaned by last Friday. The environmental problem was first raised last Monday when the school closed early and two days later, parents were given the option to collect their children from the school. However, the school remained open.
(SZB)

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CTUSAB RECOMMENDS EARLIER TERM’S LEAVE FOR TEACHERS TO AVOID FATIGUE

By Jenique Belgrave

Teachers must once again be allowed a term’s leave after five years’ of service.
General Secretary of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados Dennis DePeiza made this clear on Friday as he insisted that educators have to be protected from the very real threat of burnout.
Saying some believed that the three school breaks per year provided enough time for teachers to rest, he suggested that for many of those days, they are still occupied with work.
“When schools are on recess, teachers are at seminars, summer school, preparation meetings and they get burnout. They were supposed to be given a term’s leave after every five years and someone determined that this should be moved to 15 years. I think there needs to be a rethink and teachers should be given a term’s leave after five years,” he said, noting that such a job needed to be incentivised to draw a higher level of interest.
Speaking to the media at the Barbados Union of Teachers’ Merryhill headquarters on Friday, he also expressed concerns over the number of school disruptions being experienced in recent times due to environmental issues and instances of violence.
“When we see disruption that is continuous like this it says something about how we are managing the system…As soon as something happens, somebody pops up, makes a statement and then disappears, but there seems to be no direction coming from the Ministry of Education, none whatsoever to deal with these ongoing issues,” he charged.
Depeiza noted that such stoppages have an impact on the island’s productivity and he suggested that a broad discussion with all stakeholders is necessary if issues affecting the education sector are to be addressed.
“We need to get something done where we engage all stakeholders because this disruption is having an impact on the country’s economic development. You may say only the schools are closed but when the schools are closed, parents have to go for children all during the day, they lose income and some jobs may be on the line because they are not at work.
“There are other social factors that are affected as people who have a little money are spending it on someone to keep their children and on meals as the children are, in some cases, missing out on the school lunches provided.
“We have to look at this broadly and find out what are the problems right across the system, have some serious discussions and look for solutions,” Depeiza added.
jeniquebelgrave@barbadostoday.bb

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By Michron Robinson

The Ashley Lashley Foundation is continuing earnestly in its bid to educate the primary school population about healthy lifestyles and eco-consciousness.

On Tuesday, the organisation headed by social, climate change and youth activist Ashley Lashley ventured to the Sharon Primary School in St. Thomas with the roll out of the second session of their Eco-Active Youth tour.

Using the morning to engage with the students, Lashley quizzed them on various climate and healthy living topics, including What does climate change mean?  Some who dared to rise to the challenge provided sensible and informed responses.

The highlights during the morning included experiments carried out by the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology officer Brandon Spooner, who provided live examples of how “clouds” and “tornadoes” are created. The kids enjoyed that thoroughly, but what they also loved was the get fit aspect by fitness expert Spinny who took them through various paces in moving their bodies. No one shied away from getting into the push up positions or even squatting to the uptempo Bajan tunes.

While speaking to Barbados TODAY Lashley said that she was encouraged by this second school tour. “Our team is very excited to have the 2023 edition of the Eco Active Youth campaign underway. We have welcomed some new partners on board and expanded to include 30 schools, which is an increase from the 20 schools in last year’s pilot,” she said.

The founder of the initiative also explained that she’s excited about the new partnerships seen this year. “We have brought the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology onboard, to give a practical demonstration of different weather patterns we observe, and we have taken this same approach in highlighting the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Our team has worked very hard to bring this year’s campaign to life and we are all looking forward to interacting with all the kids and teaching them how they can adopt healthier and more sustainable lifestyles.”

In December, there will be a Grand Finale event where all 30 schools that have participated throughout the programme will be celebrated.

(MR)

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A significant amount of productivity is lost when cow-itch affects schools, says President of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Rudy Lovell.
He says not only were students losing learning time, but parents, who had to leave their jobs to pick them up when schools close, are also losing hours of productivity at their various workplaces.
He made the comments while speaking to Barbados TODAY on Thursday as he once again urged landowners with vacant lots near schools to keep these cleared of the bothersome vines.
“I cannot overemphasize it enough, this is a serious inconvenience to both students, teachers and even parents who would have to venture to the school to collect their children. We would want to encourage or impress upon those landowners who have lots that are unoccupied and that are overgrown with bush and cow itch to continue to clear them to keep the lots clear, to reduce the the prevalence of cow-itch and the effects it can have on the student population,” he added.
Last week, All Saints Primary in St Peter, Mount Tabor Primary in St John, and the Blackman and Gollop Primary and Thelma Berry Nursery schools in Christ Church closed their doors as some teachers and children began to experience allergic reactions to the environmental problem.
Lovell said that while most of the affected schools had reopened on Monday without any issues, a minor hiccup was encountered for the staff and students attending the Thelma Berry Nursery School.
“The occupants were still affected as while the debris was cleared from the outside, there was still residue on the chairs and desks inside the school. So it was industrially cleaned on Monday evening after school and everything was back to normal on Tuesday morning,” he stated.
(JB)

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View the full post Bursaries for 2023 European Drugs Summer School, Portugal on NOW Grenada.

For the first time in the history of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), the top interns are all females.

On Thursday, during a ceremony in the QEH Auditorium, Dr Sabeehah Nana was named Intern of the Year 2021-2022, while her colleagues Dr Jacinth Mayers, Dr Rheanne Sandiford, Dr Kinelle Gill, and Dr Davinia Bostic were outstanding interns. 

They were chosen from the 36 interns at the hospital.

During her speech, Dr Nana described her experience as an intern as a never-ending year consisting of long days and many sleepless nights which triggered various emotions. 

However, she also stated that her experience was rewarding and caused her to appreciate the value she could give to patients. 

Dr Nana added that as she made her rounds through various departments shadowing leading consultants and their team of doctors, she gathered valuable experience.

“My advice to all upcoming doctors is to stay focused on your goals despite the many challenges you will face, as the reward will be greater than the test you will face. 

“A strong support system, teamwork, commitment and dedication are key to your success. I would like to close by first thanking the Almighty Allah for my success. On behalf of my colleagues and I, we would like to thank the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for selecting us as recipients for these awards,” the top intern said.

Internship Coordinator Dr Clyde Cave said the outstanding interns demonstrated, during the practical exercise, the characteristics of young doctors at the top of their field.

He said they had not only performed well but showed “all the potential of being outstanding doctors in our community”. 

Dr Cave stressed that merely showing up for work was not enough, and those who excelled should be recognised.

“When we had the meeting to finalise the discussion, all these young doctors brought different profiles to being successful. Most important, it was caring for their patients, it was also reliability and dependability to their team,” he said. 

“The biggest compliment you can pay to an intern is for their supervisor to say ‘when I am away, I am fully confident that our patient is in good hands’, and all outstanding interns rose to that level. 

“There were some whose personal style and caring was exemplary, there were some whose efficiency and reliability was an outstanding trait, there were some that their knowledge and desire to grow in academia was an important characteristic,” Dr Cave said, stressing that “there are many dimensions to being a successful physician”.

Executive Director of Clinical & Diagnostic Services Dr the Most Honourable Corey Forde commended the young doctors for excelling thus far in their careers.

He encouraged them to treat each patient “as though they were your family member”. 

“Take a very patient-centred approach . . . throughout your entire career, irrespective of the career of the individual, irrespective of the class of the individual, irrespective of the religion of the individual, irrespective of the sexual orientation, or irrespective of religious belief. I think this is strategically important for your entire career,” Dr Forde advised. (AH)

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A privately-owned healthcare institution, Royalty Home-Care and Private Nurse Services, has expanded its operations and is now training patient care assistants at its Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo  headquarters. Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Royalty Home-Care and Private Nurse Services, Nurse Alicia Solomon, who is also studying to become a medical doctor, said the institution ...

“Sandals Foundation and Catherine Cecilia Foundation gifts learning and play resources to schools”

View the full post Strengthening the power of play on NOW Grenada.