Ben Smith Questions Today’s School Closures
“Why are some schools closed unnecessarily?” Shadow Minister of Education Ben Smith said, “Bermuda recovers quickly from hurricanes yet once again public education lags behind. Our children have already lost two days of learning due to the hurricane, and then late Thursday the Ministry announced another unnecessary closure for Friday. The island’s recovery effort began at 7am on Thursday, so what was the delay to assess all schools?
“Why weren’t the schools deemed safe to reopen? This created a major inconvenience for parents who had to return to work and now had to scramble for childcare. Students, already facing learning challenges and school issues, are once again paying the price for government indecision.
“The Minister must answer:
- If some schools were cleared as safe, why were they still closed?
- Why did it take so long to make this decision when the island’s recovery was underway within hours?
- Why is public education the last to return to normal when Bermuda as a whole bounced back so quickly?
“The people of Bermuda deserve straight answers. Our children cannot afford to lose more learning time and parents should not be left in the lurch because of poor planning.”
He’s right, all private schools were open today.
Skipping school used to be the thing kids did, now it’s the Government and those who run schools. It’s shameful really, and this always happens.
It is indeed sad, that the government is complicit with the narrative that the average Bermudian is lazy and welcomes every oppourtunity not to work.What is even more sad is that it is training the next generation that work avoidance is acceptable..Is it any wonder that so many working age individuals are dependent on financial assistance ?… Bermuda needs to wake up. Nepotism and rewarding inefficiency will harm in the long run.We need to raise expectations not lower the bar..If private schools were opened , why couldn’t public ?..
In the US and Canada they get snow days. These days are made up by extending the term.
In Bermuda we have storm days. No effort is made to make up for these days in public schools.