There is uncertainty over whether national examinations will resume, Minister of Education Jeff Lloyd said yesterday, two weeks after the exams were temporarily suspended due to a lockdown of Grand Bahama.

He said the uncertainty is largely due to a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 in The Bahamas.

“We postponed the national exams,” Lloyd told reporters outside Cabinet.

“Will those exams resume? We are not able at this time to say so.

“We are considering that, because, as you know, this lockdown ends, according to the prime minister, on August 18. And he also said that if conditions require, it will probably be extended.

“So we will have to wait and see whether we will be able to resume those national exams, and if we do, what form that will take, whether we will do all exams, or whether we will suspend and have it next year, or only do the BGCSE. We are not able to say at this time. We are guided by the health authorities…and we will make a decision accordingly.”

The suspension was the second as a result of the novel coronavirus. Exams were initially slated for May and June but were delayed.

The exams were quickly halted again last month, as The Bahamas began to experience a second wave of infections and Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis announced a two-week lockdown of Grand Bahama, which had been identified as a hotspot.

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