Extensive health protocols as recommended by the Ministry of Health were observed for the recently concluded Grade Six National Assessment examination. This was revealed by Robert Guiste, the senior education officer for Curriculum, Measurement and Evaluation at the ministry.
According to him, supervisors arrived to the examination venue in time and the students commenced their papers as per schedule. He said the 102 exam centers across the country were properly sanitized before the commencement of exams, and students were obligated to also sanitize their hands before and after writing each paper.
He added there was also adequate distancing to ensure that students were well protected against coronavirus infection.
But then, attorney at law and former government minister, Earl Williams, opined that the government could have done more to prepare for the coronavirus pandemic. He said countries like the United States and the United Kingdom among others knew the pandemic would come to this and were very prepared by implementing mechanisms that would curtail the spread of the disease and safeguard the health of the people.
He credited the New York Mayor Bill de Blasio for doing everything in his power to stop the spread of the pandemic, but expressed sadness that Dominica could have been more prepared – but that some people in government tried to use the occasion of the COVID-19 to abuse political powers. “We are aware that this pandemic can happen and we should have prepared for the reality…I’m however saddened that some countries used the COVID-19 situation as a means of abusing their rights to step on the people in the name of good health, and sadly our country Dominica is among them,” attorney Earl Williams said.
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