The letter to parents and guardians.
PHILIPSBURG--A decision has been made to advise all schools to continue with regular school for primary and higher education, a combination of online and in-class instruction for secondary schools and a rotation schedule for vocational school when school resumes in January as part of “Approach 3.”
Education Minister Rodolphe Samuel said in a letter to parents and guardians on Wednesday, December 30, that the Ministry of Education, Culture. Youth and Sport (ECYS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor VSA had reviewed the situation regarding the local spread of COVID-19. He said the country is still experiencing community transmission and as of Tuesday December 29, St. Maarten is seeing on average around 10 to 15 new cases per day.
Additionally, since the partial re-opening of schools on October 19 there had been 47 confirmed COVID-19 positive cases across various schools. Of these, 31 were among students and 16 were among school staff. All cases were handled by school authorities and Collective Prevention Services (CPS) in accordance with required health protocols to ensure the health and safety of the rest of the schools’ populations.
“As it remains a community effort to limit the spread of COVID-19. I would like to take this opportunity to commend all parents and guardians for their role in educating their child(ren) regarding the best health and safety practices to further mitigate the spread of COVIO-19. Please continue to review the health guidelines as often as possible with your child(ren) to ensure that all health and safety aspects are referred to,” Samuel said in the letter.
