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GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – In the second Emergency Meeting of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (Ministry ECYS) and School Boards, the decision was taken by the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Hon. Patricia Lourens-Philip that school will resume on Monday October 20, 2014 for all students attending subsidized schools and for most Public Schools.

The decision regarding the date for the resumption of classes for the St. Maarten Vocational Training School, Martin Luther King Primary School, Genevieve DeWeever and the Oranje School, will be made during the weekend via the media and the Facebook page of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs, after a final assessment is conducted by Sunday.

The decision was taken on Friday for school to resume for the following secondary schools: Milton Peters College, Sundial, St. Maarten Academy Academic and PSVE, the Charlotte Brookson Academy for the Performing Arts, the MAC Comprehensive Secondary Education and the St. Dominic High School.

The decision was also taken on Friday for school to resume for the following Primary Schools: the Seven Day Adventist School, the MAC Browlia F. Maillard and John A. Gumbs Campuses, the Asha Steven Campus and the Helmith Snijders Campuses of the Hill Side Christian Schools, Ruby Labega, Leonard Connor School, Charles Leopold Bell, Prins Willem Alexander, Sister Magda, Sister Marie Laurence Primary School, Sister Regina Primary School, St. Dominic Primary School, St. Joseph Primary School and Sister Borgia Primary School.

The decision was taken, after reports on the level of preparedness of the schools indicated that all major issues related to the safe provision of education had been addressed for the vast majority of schools.

All schools have running water, and electricity has been restored to all but one school. However, electricity is expected to be fully restored by Saturday.

In addition, all major debris had been removed from almost all schools by Friday afternoon, with the remaining debris scheduled for removal over the weekend.

With the support of Public Works, the Fire Department and private contractors, issues related to flooding were also addressed and the required cleaning of the school facilities had already been concluded by mid-day on Friday.

The progress reports regarding the efforts made for the resumption of classes by Monday October 20, 2014 were made by the Head of Ministry VROMI Infrastructure Management, Mr. Claudius Buncamper, the representatives of all subsidized school boards and the Head of Public Education and the Inspectorate of Education.

In preparation for the resumption of classes, school boards were also advised by the Division of Student Support Services of Ministry ECYS of the strategies that should be employed, in the first few day days of school, to meet the needs of students who have been impacted by the storm.

In addition, a psychologist and social workers of the Division will also be visiting the various schools to guide and provide additional support to the student care teams of the various schools for as long as the need arises.

Representatives of the school boards expressed their appreciation to Ministry ECYS and the Ministry of VROMI for the immediate response and coordination efforts in addressing the crisis.

The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports congratulated all stakeholders for the positive, deliberate steps taken to ensure minimal interruption in the education of students as a result of the passing of the hurricane.

Special words of appreciation were expressed to the volunteers within the various communities as well as the management teams, teachers and cleaners of schools that contributed tremendously towards the cleaning up of the school facilities which were in many instances significantly impacted by the hurricane.