More Jamaican schools will resume face to face classes when they reopen in January. Minister of Education Fayval Williams says 129 school have been approved for the face to face programme, up from the 17 approved in October.

The new school term begins on January 4. But the 129 schools that are cleared will have until January 18 to fine-tune their operations.

The minister stressed the importance of teachers and students to use one or a combination of approaches to continue education despite the restriction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Attending school, whether virtual, remote, or face-to-face, is still a requirement,” the minister said adding that children who were not using any of the available teaching/learning engagement are in danger of falling way behind.

“No child in Jamaica of school age should be seen sitting around idly, or on the road going to the corner shop, or doing housework during school time which is designated as 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday to Friday,” said Williams.

Meanwhile, Williams said the focus for this term would be to prepare students doing exit exams this year.

These exams include the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate and the Primary Exit Profile (PEP).

Grades-six students at the primary level are scheduled to sit the first of two components of the PEP exam – the Ability Test, on February 23, 2021.