The government is aiming to reopen public schools on New Providence, Abaco, Exuma and Eleuthera on February 22, according to Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd.

“I’ve said someplace that the target is February 22,” Lloyd told reporters outside the House of Assembly yesterday.

“But, our position is that we have to do it as a phased reopening. Some schools are going to be ready earlier than others; some as early as next week might be and some are later.

“That is [based] on a number of factors: faculty, readiness in terms of the environment as well as the repairs of the school.” 

He said classes will resume with a hybrid model.

The hybrid model, which is also known as the blended model, will mandate that a certain group of students attend in-person classes on certain days while the remaining group attends classes on the other days, according to Lloyd.

The 2019/2020 school year ended abruptly for students and teachers around the country after the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in The Bahamas on March 15, 2020.

Schools nationwide were shuttered to in-person learning for the remainder of the school year to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Three days after public schools opened on Monday, October 5, 2020, the prime minister announced in a House of Assembly communication that all schools on New Providence and Abaco may only proceed via virtual means.

While a number of private schools, as well as public schools on other islands, resumed in-person learning, public school students on New Providence, Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma are still restricted to virtual lessons.

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