Many Partners Aid Recovery

In its thrust to retun schools to normalcy the ministry has had many partners.

Within a few weeks of the hurricane, the Public Works Department had assigned a project manager and a construction company for each school and had agreed work specifications for repairs.

Department of Environmental Health officers carried out over 80 health and safety checks to pre-schools, and private and government schools. Remediation specialists from TDC and Industrial hygienist Jennifer Collins provided remediation services to treat mould and fungus problems and improve air quality in the schools.

Mrs Basdeo also highlighted the contributions of principals and their staff to the recovery process. “They assisted with inventories, cleanups, timetabling, planning and all other preparations that were necessary for our students to return.” She pinpointed, for special mention, the work of senior staff at George Hicks and John Gray, the two schools hardest hit by the hurricane. “Working to find enough classrooms, to redo timetables and redeploy teachers has been a logistical nightmare. However, they have persisted, and I am confident that we are making the best possible provision for our secondary school students, given the severity of our circumstances.”

Special accolades also for the contributions of Education Officer for the Sister Islands, Mrs. Mexi-Ann Grant, and of the Brac Principals; at one point in September, there were over 300 Grand Cayman students on the Brac, more than 200 of whom were admitted in Brac schools.

They coped with the influx “in typical Brac style” Mrs Basdeo noted. They made whatever changes were needed, including converting spaces not normally used as classrooms, regrouping the children, redeploying their teachers, all with “a ton of compassion and sensitivity and a minimum of fuss.” However, she also noted that the ministry is well aware of the strains this placed on the schools, most of which just about doubled their student populations overnight.

Following an official visit to Cayman Brac by the Deputy Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Mary Rodrigues, the ministry also set up secondary and primary learning centres for those who could not be admitted into the schools. Staffed mainly by teacher volunteers from Grand Cayman, the centres operated 5-28 October. And could not have become a reality without the generous offer of the use of facilities by the Veterans and Seaman’s Association and the Stake Bay Church of God.

“The ministry is grateful for their support, Mrs. Basdeo noted.