BROOKLYN, NY – The Guyana government recently said that all schools, except those that have already been re-opened, will remain closed until September.
“We have taken a decision based on the advice of the Ministry of Health to remain closed for the rest of the school year (or) academic year, which ends around the end of June (or) the first week of July,” said Education Minister Priya Manickchand.
Schools have been closed since March last year due to the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In November 2020, however, Grades 10, 11, and 12 were reopened to allow students to prepare for the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) examination.
“We will therefore remain closed for June except for those classes that have already returned to the classrooms…we are going to remain closed for the remaining days in May and the months of June, July, August for all of the classes that have been closed,” Manickchand said in a live update on her Facebook page, urging people to take advantage of the government’s vaccination program.
“If persons are responsible for getting vaccinated…we’re going to be able to resume a state of relative normalcy. We expect, therefore, to be able to reopen schools in September 2021 to every grade level, and we will work very hard to make sure that happens,” she added.
The Education Minister said that the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA)- slated to be written on August 4 and 5– could be impacted by a possible shift in the CXC examinations’ date.
The Barbados-based CXC body is currently re-examining the date it will host its examinations; the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) are slated to be held between June to July.
“If CXC changes their date, it will impact significantly on the date of our NGSA,” she said, adding, “as it stands now, I encourage NGSA students, teachers, and parents to prepare as though the exams are going to happen in August.”
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