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Turks & Caicos Minister of Education Updates
#TurksandCaicos, August 17, 2021 – Turks & Caicos Minister of Education Updates
When & How school will open
Public schools will officially reopen on September 6 and when they do , the hybrid formula for teaching will be shelved for a return to in person classes.
Rachel Taylor, Minister of Education was a part of a press conference on Thursday (August 12) evening from the Office of the Premier and explained that waiting lists only exist because there is a flurry of interest to get children who were once in the private school system, into the public school system.
Students are Waiting
Some 240 students are on the waiting list to enter infant one, and primary school with the longest list at the high school level, 133 hopeful students.
Minister Taylor shared social distancing has cut down on how many can be admitted at the infant, primary and high school levels, but that her team is working on it.
On August 23, said the Director of Education, Edgar Howell parents will know the status of their application for a space in the public school system.
More money, more scholarships
Twenty four more people were awarded international scholarships this year informed the minister of education when she hosted a joint press conference with the ministry of health last Thursday.
Rachel Taylor, Minister of Education announced $4,102,844 in scholarships were approved, some she said are for full scholarships, others for partial scholarships and the balance are grants which are given to students who want to pursue studies outside of the priority areas.
While this year’s group will go through, and it is announced as some 86 applicants who were successful for college abroad; by next year, the Cabinet wants to see a more streamlined approach aligning awardees with the labour force needs of the Turks and Caicos Islands. 
This year, 181 people applied for scholarships; 86 were approved. It demonstrated an increase in interest and awardees over 2020, where 156 candidates applied and 62 scholarships were given – the data is from the category of international studies.
Students continuing their degree programs are being supported to the tune of $1.45 million; local and international studies cumulatively will cost $ 2.35 million.
Students who will pursue ‘A’ Levels at British West Indies Collegiate and the TCI Community College have attracted around $270,000 in educational funding.
International awardees are already selected and Minister Taylor informed that a meeting which was due to be held on Monday August 16, would determine the local awardees for the upcoming academic year.
Teachers must be vaxxed or test weekly
Ministry of Education is taking a firm stand with workers in the Department and will require that all staff be vaccinated for Covid-19 or regularly tested at their own expense; the frequency of testing is not stated in a notice dated August 9 which is expected to impact the coming 2021-2022 academic year.
This is the kind of stand that many countries are taking in sectors like health care, at home care givers for elderly, public sector and education.
Turks and Caicos is taking the same course it seems, even though so far the measures have resulted in eruptions of protests, petitions and demonstrations and violence.
School in for Gov’t Teachers August 23
There are 393 teachers registered in the Turks and Caicos government school system, 246 of them are fully vaccinated for Covid-19 which equates to 63 per cent.
Day one for those teachers is August 23rd; this will allow for at least two workshops hosted by the Ministry of Education to ready teachers for new systems in learning and to review the health protocols.
Most significantly, it will also allow Covid-19 antigen testing to be conducted on these staffers ahead of school reopening, and this will repeat weekly. Face covering and social distancing mandates remain in effect for Turks and Caicos and students will return to face to face learning on September 6th all announcements from the Minister of Education Rachel Taylor in a Thursday press conference.
Minister Taylor explained the earlier time for teachers to report for duty also allows for screening of children who may have special needs.
The two weeks said the minister gives teachers time to prepare their classrooms and enables individual public schools to run their own programs.
Two schools have fully vaccinated teachers; they are Louise Garland Thomas High in Provo and the HJ Robinson High in Grand Turk.
The minister encouraged all teachers to get vaccinated.