Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd announced on Tuesday that schools in Grand Bahama will be opened before the end of October. 

He told The Bahama Journal that classes should up be and running within a few weeks.

“We are now on the ground doing our final scopes. We understand from the technical team and engineers as well as contractors that we looking at maybe a week to 10 days from the moment of start to the conclusion that school will be ready to go,” Lloyd said.     

With a month of learning gone for some students, Lloyd does not plan to adjust the dates for national exams. The ministry is working to accommodate the lost classroom time.

“You know that there are days which we will probably could’ve remove, eliminate professional days or you know there are holidays – Easter, Christmas. You know there are fun days that we could possibly make some adjustments in order to catch up some time,” the minister explained.

“The difficulty is that if we start to adjust the examinations, that’s going to affect the entire country and those dates have been set because you know there are certain things that follow. If you adjust those days and then you’re going to have to be careful about what’s going to the markers.

“And then, those exam results needed for people being considered for university aboard as well as for scholarships.”

As for the trade dispute the Ministry of Education filed following failed attempts to resolve the issue at Carlton Francis Primary School, the ministry is waiting on a date with a conciliator which the minister said will be the Director of Labour John Pinder. 

However, the dispute has left Lloyd frustrated.

“We at the Ministry of Education have bent over backwards. We sort to accommodate the unions in every circumstance they have requested us, every single one. But yet, we are met with these unfortunate situations. Enough is enough,” he said.

“We’re gonna sit down with the conciliator. Let’s bring all matters to the table and let’s seek a resolution within the resources and capabilities of the Ministry of Education. 

“We will satisfy every single concern we hope of the union.  But this unannounced, without warning activities that disrupt the environment of the school premises. It’s unfair to the ministry, our children, the administrator, the teachers, tired of that nonsense.” 

Teachers at the primary school are calling for the removal of the school’s principal. Teachers and union executives have been locked in an ongoing issue with the principal that has stretched over two years.