MOE Addressing Learning Gaps

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Education officials working to address a spike in truancy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keile Campbell has the details

Earlier last week, Minister of Education Glenys Hanna-Martin announced at the mid-budget debate in Parliament that nearly 1,000 children were completely absent from school over the past two years, mostly due to being unaccommodated to online learning.

Director of Education Marcellus Taylor says the task force formed by the Ministry of Education aims to address that.

Taylor says school attendance officers are going to take different approaches to bring students into school.

A lunch program, as well as relaxed uniform policies, are in place to facilitate students whose families are still suffering financially.

Taylor says there is a systemic process in the remediation of students whose education has suffered during the pandemic. However, he said even before the pandemic, there were cases of truancy and as educators, their reach is limited.