KINGSTON, Jamaica — The majority of the country’s primary and high schools have been approved as COVID-19-compliant by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

The revelation was made by Education Minister Fayval Williams during the sitting of the House of Representatives on January 11.

According to Williams, to date, a total of 954 of 983 primary and high schools have been given the green light by the health ministry.

“This means there has been a physical reinspection of our schools for COVID and non-COVID issues,” Williams said.

A school is deemed to be a COVID-compliant school if it has accessible wash stations or sinks for children, social distancing markers for standing and sitting, and an isolation room with its own bathroom facilities, where children can be isolated until medical help arrives, the minister explained.

“In this environment of the new omicron virus, our priority is to keep our children as safe as we can,” Williams stressed.

In addition, she said the manual for the reopening of educational institutions, ‘Emergencies in Education Manual’, published at the start of the pandemic, is on its third version.

“It speaks to the general guidelines for the full reopening of schools. It looks at sanitisation and hygiene practices, management of the sick, protocols for treating the individuals who are suspected of being infected, wearing of masks, protocols for entry to the school compound and general guidelines to maintain social or physical distancing,” the education minister noted.

The manual also covers scheduling lunch and transportation, and has a section for special education schools, amongst other areas.