UWTT advocates for the return of our children, particularly primary school children, to in person schooling in September 2021.
In July 2021, UWTT launched Phase 2 of our Support to the New Norm in Primary Schools Project with the goal to support Blended Schooling and Improve Ventilation in classrooms as key fundamentals for returning to in person school safely. This is aligned and in support of the Ministry of Education draft guidelines for September, 2021.
This Project builds on our UWTT 2020 Support to the New Norm in Primary Schools Project, Phase 1 which worked with 15 schools to build capacity for handwashing, mask wearing, child and parent friendly communication materials and among school leadership. We will continue to embed this in our Building Bridges to Success Impact Programme to ensure sustainability of efforts.
The Objectives of the Phase 2 Project are to:
- Support parents to better engage in learning process of blended schooling
- Provide teachers with support for small group learning and supervision during break time
- Strengthen capacity for blended schooling, including connectivity for school and students and capacity of school as connectivity hub
- Support implementation of safety protocols of handwashing, mask wearing, physical distancing and good ventilation as key fundamentals of returning to in person school
Project Targets
- Teacher Aides from the local community recruited and trained to support teachers with supervising of breaks and maintaining safety protocols
- Parent support provided for future engagement in blended learning
- School capacity improved as an internet community hub
- School capacity supported for maintaining safety standards for COVID 19 with attention to ventilation
- Mobilising estimated budget per school of $75,000 for continued infrastructural investment and $200,000 for programme support with a focus on under 8-year-old for the school year.
- UWTT is also implementing a more comprehensive pilot school ventilation Project at Mucurapo Boys RC Primary School.
The project is designed as a public-private partnership learning through action. This must be done in ways to give our children a real chance to adapt while addressing the critical issue of learning loss so that vulnerable communities do not fall further behind for the next school year 2021-2022.
As part of this effort, we are implementing a model renovation to improve ventilation in the first floor of St Mary’s Mucurapo Boys RC Primary School in partnership with the Catholic Education Management Board.