PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — Trinidad and Tobago today announced the start of the new school year in the era of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with plans for students to stay away from school buildings and not have to encounter face-to-face classes.

Education officials said the classes will officially start next week.

Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby Dolly urged students to be disciplined and stay committed to home-based learning.

She acknowledged that the new methods for learning may be a bit difficult, adding “over the next few months you will grow even more disciplined than you were before as you adapt and adjust to home-based learning.

“We believe in you. Your parents and teachers will also be embracing new rules as we support this learning environment. Whether you will be interacting on line or you will be receiving care packages of learning material from your teachers it will call for discipline, time management and commitment,” she said in a message to the students.

“It will not be easy every day, but that’s all of the part of getting used to new experiences,” the education minister said, reminding the students that they could ask for help in case they become overwhelmed.

Schools here were closed in March after Trinidad and Tobago registered the first cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the government instated a lockdown of the country in a bid to stem the flow of the virus.

On Tuesday, the Minister of Health reported that the island now had 25 deaths associated with the virus after two elderly women and an elderly man with co-morbidities succumbed to the virus.

It said that the number of positive cases here is 1,773, with 1,063 active cases.

The authorities said that the 14 positive cases reported Tuesday were from samples taken during the period August 23-30.