RE-OPENING THE SCHOOLS NOW

 It is not often that I think that the Rowley Government has done something right, but when evidence seems to point to them doing so, it is only right and proper that we acknowledge that they have done so. What I am talking about is the decision to reopen schools for the last two months of the school year. I have seen arguments, which quite frankly tended to sway me in their favour, that it would have been better to reopen the schools in September. The argument in essence was that re-opening them now was placing an unnecessary hardship on the parents as far as finance was concerned and that the kids could simply continue to learn online as they have been doing for what feels like an eternity. The children, so the argument goes, would not be suffering any great loss if they continued with the online learning for two more months.

But (and here it comes) a recent study in the United States conducted over a two year period showed that approximately twenty percent of those students who attended in person classes for most of the last (2020 - 2021) school year lost about twenty percent of their maths skills. BUT students who stayed home fared much worse:  they lost about fifty percent of their maths skills over the same period.

Now, I'm fairly certain that despite what anyone says now, that no such study has been done in T&T and that those in charge did not know about this study.. But it is not unreasonable to assume that the results of the American study will and can apply to other countries. This means that whether by design (which is most unlikely based on this Government's past performance) or happy circumstance they were right to reopen the schools now. And if that is the case, we should all applaud that particular decision whether we were lucky or not. It stands to reason that the sooner we can get the kids back in class the better if you accept the results of the study. 

And at the end of the day, what we all should be concerned about is what is best for the children. And whether or not the Rowley Government knew about this or they didn't know is irrelevant. It certainly appears from the American study that re-opening as quickly as possible is/was best for the kids. We can indulge in pendanticism when the election comes around. Until then let's 'give Jack his jacket'. Re-opening as soon as possible was the right decision for the children. Next point! Because we should be primarily concerned with what is best for the children. everything else is just fluff. Stick to the point and you will understand the problem.