Camille McEachnie
As some students from Forms Four to Six return to in-person classes and the lower classes continue to attend school virtually, the Tobago arm of Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association(TTUTA) says it is satisfied that measures have been put in place for the online classes.
TTUTA Tobago Officer Bradon Roberts urges teachers and students to follow COVID protocols, saying the Division of Education, Innovation, and Energy has managed the implementation of COVID protocols “quite well.”
However, he lamented that Tobago’s students are disadvantaged because of the state of the island’s science laboratories.
He told Guardian Media TTUTA raised the issues in 2018.
He said Mason Hall Secondary and the Pentecostal Light and Life in Scarborough have been repaired.
However, those in other schools, like the Signal Hill Secondary, need repairs urgently.
Efforts to reach Education Secretary Marslyn Melville-Jack for comment on the situation were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, the “alternative” Education Secretary Zorisha Hackett, the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP area representative for Plymouth/Golden lane, sent out her back-to-school greetings via social media, telling children to put their best foot forward and aim to get a solid education.
Hackett advised parents and teachers to keep on striving to do their best despite the pandemic and reminded them of Robert Schuller’s quote “tough times don’t last, but tough people do.”
She told parents to reach out to their children’s schools’ principal for help if they need electronic devices. She said she is also there to lend a helping hand and will also reach out to the principals for them.
She began her first “official” day at work yesterday.
The PDP said they set up a parallel Executive Council to meet the needs of their constituents. The party has not been able to serve them since January 28, 2021- their inauguration day.
The legislative arm of the Tobago Hosue of Assembly has not been fully constituted as the PDP and People’s National Movement, who won six seats each in the January 25, 2021, Tobago House of Assembly elections could not agree on a Presiding Officer.
The PDP said the council would undertake small community-based projects involving residents and businesses.
