Back to School Message by Hon. Karen Malcolm, Minister of Education

My fellow Turks and Caicos Islanders and residents, I greet you and speak blessings and protection over you all and over these beautiful by nature Turks and Caicos Islands. God is in control, do not get discouraged, this too shall pass.

As we commence two additional weeks of curfew, I encourage all of us to adhere to the advice given by the Ministry of Health. We are in this together, remember to practice social distancing, wash your hands often with soap and water, and wear a mask especially when shopping, banking or doing other essential tasks. Let’s continue to stay at home to flatten the curve.

School was scheduled to reopen this Monday, April 20th but due to the extension of the curfew this is not possible. We continue to be guided by the advice of our officials in the Ministry of Health. As we begin two additional weeks outside of the classroom setting, we will continue to make use of online learning platforms such as Microsoft OneNote Classroom, Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams and Zoom to facilitate face to face instructional delivery and learning opportunities for students.

To our committed teachers and school administrators, without you this process would not be possible. You are our frontline workers and we cannot express how grateful we are. The Ministry commends you for driving this mandate and engaging our students in online instruction. We are mindful that this time is extremely challenging for you, and I dare say stressful, as you cope with designing engaging lessons, the psychological and emotional trauma because of COVID-19, staying in touch with your families and friends, and keeping yourself safe and active.

Please make use of the hotline services provided by the Department of Health, the Red Cross and a small team of Guidance Counsellors for coping strategies.

I use this medium to impress on our parents the significant role you will play over the next two weeks. Parents, we have a duty to you, your children and the community to ensure that there is continuous learning as we traverse through this turbulent, uncertain period. This cannot be successful unless we appreciate that it is a collaborative effort. While schools are organizing this process and are committed to continuing this mandate, it will be incumbent on you to provide the support in your home for our students, your children, to be logged on at the times they are scheduled to be connected for classes or to ensure that they complete the assigned work on the specific days. In our feedback report from schools, we were informed of challenges with internet connection and devices. The Ministry was able to finalize agreements with our two telecommunication companies and they have presented excellent packages of discounted data plans and a donation of some Mifi devices to facilitate online instruction.

Students, I can imagine that it has been very difficult for you since March 20, especially since you have had to recondition your minds from being in an environment with desks, chairs, your classmates, teachers and friends to a virtual learning environment. This required a tremendous amount of self- discipline to connect to the class sessions with your teachers and complete the assigned work with the help of your parents. This will continue to have that effect as you begin online classes as of Monday, April 20 which is the start of Term 3. This means that you are expected to return to online classes and engage with your teachers and fellow students to learn all that you can. I call on you to make the most of the learning opportunities made available to you.

I close this address with the reassurance that you are not alone. We are not alone. During this time, we must strengthen our faith experience and lean on the wisdom of the Almighty God to provide guidance and direction to our officials who make decisions on our behalf. Proverbs 3:5-6 reads

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.   In   all   your   ways acknowledge   Him, and He will make your paths straight.” God is working His purpose out, let us be vigilant in prayer and continue to trust Him to lead us through this.

We applaud you, we are here for you and we support you. Let us work together to provide a high quality educational experience for our children.

The Ministry will be providing periodic updates in the coming days.

May God continue to bless us all.