teachers

School is back in session but teachers are worrying about one more thing besides lesson planning: hot classrooms with no air conditioning which makes teaching and learning near impossible.

Teachers took to social media to vent their frustrations and to plead for fans to cool their sweltering classrooms.

A teacher at Huntley Christie High School in North Andros, Antoine Duncombe said, “Ain’t no way learning can take place. The sun just feels like it’s sitting on earth this time around. These classrooms are hotter than before with two or three working ceiling fans, out of the six.

“This is not conditions teachers and students should have to bare…Please donate three fans for my classroom… We burning up and I out here dressed up daily in shirt and tie.”

Many classrooms in public schools hold approximately 30 students, making it difficult for natural air to blow through the room. And, many classrooms have only ceiling fans which may be inoperable.

It is common for some teachers to purchase fans, but they do nothing to beat the intolerable heat.

A teacher at C.H. Reeves Junior High in New Providence D’Metria Smith begged for assistance from social media users.  “This heat is criminal. Please donate four fans to my classroom.”

In another post, she implored again, “I need four fans please,” as Sharell Edwards of Anatol Rodgers High School solicited an air conditioning unit because “the heat is vicious.”

Cameron Hanna, a teacher in Grand Bahama, described his classroom as “a sauna.”

Classrooms are becoming hotter as global temperatures rise, which can have a dire effect on learning. Summer months are particularly hotter with daytime temperatures reaching about 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

A teacher at Eight Mile Rock High School in Grand Bahama, Prisca Hunt, asked, “Dear Mr Prime Minister, how are we teachers supposed to go the extra mile you requested of us in these scorching, inferno, sauna-degrees classrooms?”

And Canovia Ferguson requested that the government “provide comfortable classrooms for our students–classrooms in which our students can concentrate on what the teacher is saying rather than fighting to sit in front of one of the two fans in the class which was purchased by the teacher by the way.”

Some social media users responded favorably, pledging to donate fans to teachers.

The weather seems to be hotter than in past summers and government may have to consider a new type of cooling unit to ensure comfortable classrooms for learning to take place.

In what has become a disappointing first day of school, technical difficulties befell the start of the 2020 school year.

Students and teachers were unable to access the Ministry of Education’s online learning portal.

For about six hours users were greeted with “undergoing maintenance…we’re doing some work on the site and will be back shortly.”

The cause?

Officials of the Ministry of Education issued a statement late Tuesday evening saying the department of education experienced “some technical issues,” preventing access to the Learning Management System.

When will the situation be fixed?

The ministry said One on One and Amazon Web Services, the companies responsible for hosting the platform are working to fix the technical issues, and said it is hoped the challenges are addressed quickly.

What did the Teachers Union President say?

Belinda Wilson said teachers were not notified by the ministry of the technical challenges.

She advised teachers that if the issue persists on Wednesday, they should log on to the system, take a photo of the web page, sign-in at the school’s register and sign out at 12noon.

It is hoped that the online portal will be running by 9 am on Wednesday. If not, schools may choose to continue with the Zoom platform.

October 5^th is the targetted date for the reopening of schools in the Bahamas.

New Providence, Abaco and Eleuthera will engage in online learning, while schools in Grand Bahama and other Family Islands will offer face-to-face learning.

Education Minister Jeffrey Lloyd in a report to the nation announced that an increase in the infection rate of the COVID-19 in New Providence and Family Islands has forced the Department of Education to urgently plan and consider the reopening of schools, which was previously scheduled to reopen September 21st.

However, Bahamas Union of Teachers Belinda Wilson is lamenting that education officials did not confer the new date with the union and is asking education officials for the policy that will govern online and in-person learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Will online learning cause problems?

Some teachers have taken to social media to vent their frustrations about the logistics of reopening schools, questioning if the government will provide the digital devices for the teaching instructions, how to ensure student attendance in online learning, and the care of their children as they teach online classes.

Director of Education Marcellus Taylor said employers, to the extent that they can, should consider some levels of flexibility around working arrangements or allowing children to come along with their parents to work, if possible.

He added that attendance officers will ensure the attendance of students, and resource packages will be issued to students without access to the internet and a computer.

Wilson, appearing on Beyond the Headlines, queried the number of hours given for students in a virtual setting, saying the officials assigned too many hours for students to sit and learn virtually.

She also questioned how teachers will assess students’ examinations and quizzes, and how administrators will assess teachers’ performance.

Dr. Ebby Jackson proprietor of Palmdale Vision Center said the online learning has a negative effect on the eyes. Jackson appearing on Beyond the Headlines said eyes were not made to be locked onto a computer screen for long periods of time, which she said will be problematic for teachers, parents, and the students, particularly if either party suffers from an underlying condition.

What are the risks of in-person schooling?

While online learning may present some economic and social impediments, face-to-face classes present clear public health risks to the physical reopening of schools. Though not surging in the Family Islands, COVID-19 cases are springing up.

And schools bring together hundreds of students, which may present a challenge with talking and camaraderie during the lunch period, which experts say cause the virus to spread.

However, most schools on the islands have small population sizes, and Taylor said these schools permit for social distancing, in contrast to schools in New Providence.

Officials announced that students will be spaced 3 feet apart in the classroom, but Wilson is calling for 6 feet spacing, as stipulated for social protocols.

Wilson questioned the class sizes under which teachers will be expected to engage students and implored that education officials install acrylic or plexiglass sheets around the desks of teachers, to reduce the spread.