#CARIBBEAN, January 31, 2020 — A week of extremities experienced across the Caribbean and for Caribbean students resident in Wuhan, China, which is the epicenter of the now global health emergency and deadly Coronavirus.
Emerica Robinson is one of those students and has told The Bahamas
Tribune newspaper that she has been quarantined in the neighbouring city,
Nanjing; visited by the police and doctors at her residence and is under watch
for the next 14 days to monitor whether she shows any sign of having the virus.
Dr. Duane Sands, Bahamas Health Minister
Robinson is a Bahamian student attending university in Wuhan
and says she has no plans to return home to The Bahamas, will stay put and will
do as doctors have prescribed, which is to check her temperature twice a day
and to report each test result to the hospital.
The Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs had confirmed there
are five Bahamian students at university in Wuhan. Bahamas Health Minister, Dr. Duane Sands,
yesterday reported that two of them are quarantined and as of Thursday, The Bahamas
will quarantine anyone who has been to mainland China in the past 20 days.
Dr. Christopher Tufton, Jamaica Health Minister
At least two critical press conferences have been held in
the Caribbean – the first was in Jamaica where the University Hospital of the
University of the West Indies was on lock down following the transfer of a
patient to the facility.
Word got out that the person, who had recently returned from
Asia, was suspected of having coronavirus.
Dr. Christopher Tufton, Jamaica’s Health Minister led a
press conference to explain the action taken out of ‘the abundance of caution’
and eventually informed that there was no coronavirus case in Jamaica.
Mere minutes after this press conference wrapped up on
Monday, there was a 7.7 magnitude earthquake recorded – it struck at 2:10pm in
waters off Jamaica. The USGS said the
earthquake affected Jamaica, Cuba, Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, Haiti and
Honduras.
Cayman Islands rushed outdoors when earthquake struck on Monday
The tremors caused The Bahamas to close government offices along
Shirley Street in Nassau.
Lots of cell phone video of the moments during and after the
earthquake was shared on social media by residents of Cayman. Some people captured the actual shaking,
others recorded the gaping sink holes left behind on main thoroughfares, golf
course, beach, in backyards and neighbourhoods, proving that the monster quake
was anything but imagined.
By Thursday, a line of squally, stormy showers moving off
South Florida and over the Abacos resulted in a tornado, confirmed The Bahamas
Department of Meteorology.
A mangled mobile home, which was unoccupied at the time of
the tornado seemed to be the main victim of the twister which moved through
Marsh Harbour, “like a freight train” in the early hours of Thursday.
Mobile Home smashed by Thursday morning tornado in Abaco, Bahamas
It appeared the tornado lifted and crashed the vehicle to
the ground; it was completely destroyed.
Marsh Harbour, which is the capital of Great Abaco, is still
trying to recover from deadly and disastrous Hurricane Dorian.
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#TurksandCaicos, March 31, 2023 – Earth Day is coming up on April 22, 2023, and the Department of Environment and Coastal resources is hosting a poetry competition for TCI youth to mark the event.
Students of all ages are encouraged to write a sonnet to celebrate the TCI’s natural beauty; the winning poem will be published in the Times of the Island Magazine.
The deadline for poems to be submitted is April 30, 2023, and students should submit their poem via email to aavenant@gov.tv or in person to any DECR office. Entries must include the student’s name, age and school.
The department promises that there are prizes to be won for the top poets.
April 22 marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement 53 years ago and helps demonstrate support for environmental protection. The theme for this year is “Invest In Our Planet.”
This year‘s theme follows years of missed climate action goals by governments globally, including poor climate financing. The Turks and Caicos and other small island developing states are particularly at risk environmentally because of the growing threat of climate change.
Currently the country is working through the Environmental Health Department DECR, Fisheries Department, and more to create sustainable fishing, farming, and marine practices that will benefit the country economically, but also protect its natural flora and fauna.
Projects include sargassum research, coral nurseries to rebuild the country’s coral reef, farming in schools, marine spatial planning to create an effective plan for the use of marine resources, participation in the UK Blue Belt program to protect local marine life, and much more.
NASSAU, The Bahamas, March 29, 2023 – Over 100 schools in New Providence, public and private, and some 30 plus schools in Freeport have been inspected by The National Accreditation and Equivalency Council (NAECOB) to ensure high quality standards for the delivery of education.
“We will cover every island, every cay in this country to make certain that the facilities that we send our children to are adequate, conducive for learning, safe and sound for education,” said Thelma Grimes, chairperson, NAECOB.
“We are going to head to Cat Island and all the others before June. This is our announced visit. They [schools] have a chance to get things fixed that are not finished and [afterwards] we will have the unannounced.”
The Council informed the media of its progress during a briefing Monday, March 20, 2023 at its headquarters, Tonique Williams-Darling Highway.
Howard Newbold, Inspector and Council Member explained that the council’s seven inspectors are tasked with visiting every site or virtual space operating the following: primary/secondary schools, private/secondary, post-secondary, recognized, training, allied health and business institutions among others.
Mr. Newbold said inspections include an examination of:
-Safety and security standards -Human security which begins at the entrance to the property’ -Physical security: safety mechanisms including smoke detectors, fire alarms and extinguishers (service date verification, and evacuation plan) -Primary grounds, playground equipment, swing sets and slides -Curriculum -Information management system (student records, staff schedules, registration certificate with NAECOB, business license, photos of the national leaders etc.)
The Hon. Glenys Hanna-Martin, Minister of Education and Technical and Vocational Institute thanked NAECOB for their efforts. She described their work as “critical” and a part of an overall national thrust to ensure that the quality of education in the country is at a high standard.
“We’re the Ministry of Education and they’re our schools. We are accountable to NAECOB. They ensure that what is happening on the campuses throughout the nation meets the physical standards and the qualitative standards of education. You would have heard classroom size and teacher/student ratio. We may have challenges, and we do at the Ministry of Education but when these issues are brought to our attention we are obliged and compelled to seek resolution to ensure that the standards are met.
“This is a quality assurance measure for the Ministry itself and our schools to ensure that public and private and public schools meet these standards. We value that. Because the objective of the Ministry is to ensure that we meet the standards so that our young people who enter these institutions are afforded the best opportunity possible.
“Education is a cultural value; a norm. We submit ourselves to the work of NAECOB to ensuring what happens is done at least to make the acceptable standards of the delivery of education in our schools,” she said.
Cassia Minnis, registration officer, said “registration” certifies that a local educational institution/provider has met the criteria to offer an educational service in The Bahamas as outlined in the Education Act. She said it is mandatory that all educational institutions/provider offering/proposing to offer an educational service in the Bahamas must be registered according to the NAECOB Act and the Education Act.
She said NAECOB is aware of “small” schools operating within residential homes and warned that this is in contravention of the law.
She encouraged the public to view listings of all registered institutions on the website at naecob.org
NAECOB is responsible for registering and accrediting primary schools, secondary schools, post-secondary schools, and any institution that offers training in The Bahamas.
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PHOTO CAPTIONS
BIS Photos/Mark Ford
Header: Seated at the table, from left: – Lorraine Armbrister, Permanent Secretary; Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin; Dominique McCartney Russell, Acting Director; Cassia Minnis, Registration Officer; Thelma Grimes, Council Chairperson; Howard Newbold, Inspector, Council Member; Shena Williams, Council and Inspector; Dorothy Anderson, Inspector; T. Nicola McKay, Deputy Chairperson; (seated behind) Willard Barr, Council and Inspector.
1st insert: Thelma Grimes, Council Chairperson
2nd insert: Howard Newbold, Inspector and Council Member
3rd insert: The Hon. Glenys Hanna-Martin, Minister of Education and Technical and Vocational Training
#TheBahamas, March 27, 2023 – As the 50th anniversary of our nation’s independence approaches, Bahamians everywhere are teeming with excitement and expectancy around the year-long celebrations set by The National Independence Secretariat.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister joined H.E Leslia Miller Brice, Chair of The National Independence Secretariat to unveil the Calendar of Events for the 50th Independence celebrations.
The calendar comprises a host of events, initiatives and recommendations for celebrations throughout all 33 islands of The Bahamas.
At this jubilant occasion the PM stated, “Celebrating independence is about acknowledging the greatness around us, the greatness within us, and the greatness ahead of us.