PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 27, 2021

Minister Announces Plans for the Commencement of the New School Year

Kingston, Jamaica: - As we seek to begin the new school year (2021/2022), we

continue to implore our teachers, students, administrative staff, school leadership
and our parents to get vaccinated. Additionally, we encourage all to continue
to steadfastly wear masks, do frequent hand washing and/or sanitization and
observe social distancing. These protocols, together with the added layer of
protection that vaccinations provide are our best consolidated tools for
significantly reducing the spread of the COVID-19 virus and decreasing
hospitalizations.

In the education sector, our primary objectives are to ensure that all students
have safe access to education as the global health crisis or pandemic continues
unabated as a result of the COVID-19 virus. In light of that, all schools will begin
classes on Monday, September 6, 2021 utilizing the modalities that were in
operation in the last school year. These modalities include:
• Online/computer-aided learning
• Audio-visual (television and radio)
• Printed Learning Packages or Kits

Modalities for Safe Access to Education in the Public Education Sector

Infant departments, infant schools, brain builder centers, primary schools and high
schools will begin classes with one or more of the three modalities listed above on
Monday, Sept 6, 2021.

1
During the week of Sept 20, 2021, and periodically thereafter, we will do an
assessment in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Wellness to
determine the feasible date to begin face-to-face.

Our objective is to return early childhood/infant and primary school to the face-
to-face mode as soon as we are able to. We advise households to be vaccinated
in order to get our students 12 years and under back into the face-to-face mode
as quickly as possible.

Administrators, teachers and ancillary staff in the public education sector who will
be working in the school environment with our early childhood/infant and primary
level children are strongly encouraged to be vaccinated. At this time, the vaccine
is not available for our children who are less than 12 years old. As such, we have
a collective responsibility to ourselves and our children to steadfastly continue to
adhere to the COVID-19 protocols (handwashing and/or sanitization, social
distancing and wearing of masks) with the added layer of protection afforded
from being vaccinated.

Secondary Schools
As our students in the secondary schools continue to be vaccinated to protect
themselves against hospitalization and possible death in the event they contract
the COVID-19 virus, we believe it is prudent for our students to get this added layer
of protection in order to ensure safe attendance for face-to-face engagement.

Sixty-Five Percent (65%) Vaccination Rate Required for Face-to-Face in

Secondary Schools

While we continue to provide access to education for all our students, face-to-
face engagement will only be possible if our students 12 and older are

2
vaccinated. Students in secondary schools will therefore return to face-to-face
once their school achieves 65% vaccination rate or higher. The modalities
previously established will therefore continue until schools population data are
assessed for the vaccination rate and permission given by the Ministry of Health
and Wellness for face-to-face.

As of August 27, 2021, approximately 28,000 students received the first dose of
the Pfizer vaccine. We continue to strongly encourage our parents to get their
children and themselves vaccinated so that we can get back to face-to-face.

Registration
It is customary that our students get registered, pick up their books and packages
and meet their teachers during the two weeks leading up to the start of school
which begins on Monday, Sept 6, 2021. We strongly advise, via our schools’
bulletin, that our school leaders, teachers and administrators adhere to the Orders
as per the Disaster Risk Management Act Order No. 9 and have only small groups
of students on the school grounds at any one time. The activities should happen
as quickly as possible to avoid crowding at the school gate and on the school
grounds.

As we continue to battle the global health crisis brought on by the COVID-19 virus,
we implore all to get vaccinated, continue to sanitize and/or wash hands, wear
masks properly at all times and practise social distancing. We are fortunate to
have a supply of three different brands of the vaccines that are available free of
cost to all our citizens 12 years and older. Get Vaxed…Get Face-to-Face.

-0-