An air of uncertainty lingered Thursday morning as parents and students completed the registration process for the new Cayman Islands Further Education Centre school term even as a location to hold classes remained unconfirmed.
The school’s delayed relocation has left parents like Winsome Johnson concerned for her daughter Ahmoya Morrison’s educational future.
“I want her to settle in and it kind of feels a little awkward not knowing. It’s not like when she was entering John Gray; she knew where’s orientation. She knew exactly where she is going to be in this class and this school and what she is going to do, but now it’s like we don’t know exactly what’s going on,” Johnson said.
Johnson was one of several parents, who together with their children turned up at the Seventh-day Adventist church hall in George Town to sign-up for the new school term.
Some parents said they were assured a location would be secured in time for the start of classes in September and the students would be provided with transport to and from classes.
The location for those classes, the Compass understands, may be shared between the church hall and Cayman Enterprise City. A Ministry of Education press release previously said officials were exploring options at John Gray and Clifton Hunter high schools.
Parents left upset
The short notice of the situation, coming on the eve of class registration, triggered outrage from some parents who took to social media to vent their frustrations.
One mother, who requested her name be omitted, said she was distressed by the situation and the potential impact on her son’s education.
She said, like other parents, she has no other choice but to have her child attend CIFEC.
“Honestly, this is a very sad situation to know that the Ministry of Education would treat our children this way. In my opinion, this is a discrimination against these children who may have a lower academic score than other children with the minimum and above required passes who have the option to choose other sources of further education programmes such as A Levels at private institutions or courses offered by UCCI,” she said.
She said no child should be subject to this type of treatment, “no matter where their academic levels are at this early stage”.
She questioned why the Department of Education Services felt “that it is acceptable to put our CIFEC students on the back burner and provide them with lesser opportunities compared to children/students with higher academic results ….
“They [Department of Education Services] have no idea the type of mental trauma they are causing on these children by making them feel like less than anyone else, only because maybe they may have missed one mandatory course,” she said, adding that these same students were already been placed in a challenging situation by the previous COVID-19 disruptions.
“This had already placed them in a vulnerable situation and at a disadvantage with catching up with the curriculum,” she said.
Mother Phijitra Rivers shared the concern, saying that she would have been more at ease had the class locations been finalised before registration.
“Truly I am just worried now that they don’t know yet where to put my son William. I want to know where they could put him,” she said, adding she is concerned for all the students seeking entry into CIFEC.
“They should have been prepared. Every year they know where to put them, but it’s just happened this year they do not? All the parents are shocked this year and they do not know [what’s happening,]” she said.
She said she was confident her son will have a good teacher to help him and the other children who have fallen behind.
“But for me, it would make me feel [comfortable to know] where he is and I am just worried. Hopefully they find where to put them before class starts,” she said.
Some parents have been told that inductions will be held over the next week, as indicated on the official school calendar, with classes to follow.
As for the students, Ahmoya Morrison, 16, said she was not too nervous about the situation and she was waiting for more details.
“I’m fine. I can handle it,” she said, adding that she was going to take classes in science, business and social studies.
Student William Rivers said he is looking forward to getting back to school to work on his mathematics, English and science, as well as joining the automotive programme.
Another student lamented why the school site was not finalised ahead of time.
“They had two months to get prepared. They should have sorted this out long time. Now we do not know what is next,” he said.
While the parents worried over next steps, they were, however, complimentary of the registration process and the ease of signing up for the new term.
Delays exacerbate situation
On Tuesday, the day before the official registration for CIFEC began on 28 Aug., education officials informed parents that the school would need to temporarily operate from a different site due to “unexpected delays in completing the renovations to the former George Hicks site”.
The announcement also came months after asbestos was confirmed at the Walkers Road institution.
The presence of asbestos at the CIFEC site was contained in the findings of a pre-demolition inspection report prepared in February 2023 as part of the new John Gray High School project.
The contract for the additional phases of the project are still to be awarded.
CIFEC students, the Ministry of Education told the Cayman Compass in May this year, were to be relocated from the Walkers Road campus in July.
However, the remaining phases of the school project, which includes the relocation of the CIFEC campus to the old George Hicks school and the demolition of the existing CIFEC site, have been delayed.
Those delays have left officials in the current quandary searching for space for classes.
The Compass understands that Premier and Education Minister Juliana O’Connor-Connolly toured the school site on Wednesday.
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