The last minute decision to extend the school Christmas break by two weeks has been greeted with a mix of confusion and concern by parents.
While many said they support the idea of an extra break for teachers, many parents were left baffled by the decision and scrambling to find childcare options for the extended vacation.
The Ministry of Education announced the policy last week saying it was designed, in part, to allow expatriate teachers the chance to return home and visit their families – something they were unable to do over the summer break.
But the short notice, a lack of flights out of Cayman and the fact that quarantine requirements are in place in many destination countries and on return to the islands, have sparked concern that very few educators will even be able to take up that option.
It also means the cancellation of the winter half-term break and a shorter Easter and summer break for those teachers at a time when travel is expected to be easier.
Some parents have highlighted concerns that the additional two-week break over Christmas could mean their children falling further behind in school. An Office of Education Services inspections report on the quality of remote learning during lockdown from March through June, indicated that many students would need help to ‘catch up’ when they returned to school.
Others cited health concerns, suggesting the policy seemed to actively encourage teachers to visit COVID-impacted countries and return to the island at a time when all but essential travel is being discouraged.
It is understood that the majority of Cayman’s private schools have decided not to extend the Christmas break. One exception is Triple C, which informed parents and teachers at the start of the school year that there would be a three-week holiday over the festive period.
The Ministry of Education did not respond to requests this week to clarify the reasoning behind its policy or to address the concerns raised by parents in numerous social media forums and in interviews with the Compass.
In a press release issued last week, the ministry stated that 22% of the island’s public-school teachers had indicated they wished to travel during the Christmas holidays.
“The ministry has extended the Christmas holiday period by two weeks to allow staff from government schools to spend some well-needed time with their families locally and overseas,” Education Minister Julianna O’Connor-Connolly stated in the release.
Parents concerns
Scores of parents have raised concerns about the last-minute change.
Jennie Carins said she was worried about finding affordable childcare for her 12-year-old son over the extended break.
“I can’t take an extra two weeks to stay at home,” she said.
Cairns said her son was just getting back into the routine of school life after learning remotely for several months last term.
She said the policy may have been ‘well-intentioned’ but did not make a lot of sense.
“Even teachers themselves are saying it is impossible to book flights that don’t exist,” she said.
“Everyone in the world is saying ‘don’t travel, don’t go anywhere’ and our Ministry of Education is encouraging it.”
Mitzi Scott, who has a child in Year 10 at Cayman Brac’s Layman E Scott High School, said she was most worried about the academic impact.
“My concern is that the children are behind. My son is just adjusting to going back to school after the lockdown.”
The response on the Compass Facebook thread and elsewhere on social media was also overwhelmingly against the policy. Even some teachers said they did not support the decision.
A poll on our website was more evenly split, however, with 54% against, 41% in favour and 5% undecided. You can see the results for yourself on page four of this newspaper.
Michelle Powell, of the Savannah Primary School Parent Teacher Association, said she had not seen significant outcry about the issue from parents at the school.
She said there was some concern, particularly among single parents, about child care, but she has sympathy for any teacher that wants to travel over Christmas.
“Some of them have not seen their children for a year,” she said.
A spokesperson for the YMCA, meanwhile, confirmed that it will offer a full-day camp programme at locations across Cayman for the two weeks, catering to children aged 5-12 from 8am to 4.30pm each day to assist with childcare issues. The details are being finalised and will be announced next week.
Private schools take different approach
The majority of Cayman’s private schools, including St. Ignatius Catholic School, Cayman International School and Cayman Prep, have indicated they will keep to the traditional two-week winter break.
Jim Urquhart, CIS principal, said extending the break would have meant less time off for staff during the summer when travel is expected to be easier.
“A decreased summer break would be particularly challenging for our families and members of our staff because no doubt they would want to take this time to visit families,” he said.
Given the low availability of flights and the quarantine requirements in many of the home countries of his staff, Urquhart said, in any case, travel over Christmas was not practical for many of the staff.
“Save for a few locations, most places people would potentially travel to are in the midst of second or third waves of the pandemic,” he said.
Urquhart added that the school had wanted to maximise instruction time prior to international baccalaureate exams in May.
“2020 has been an unpredictable year for many. We feel it is important that the school provides some reprieve from this, and keeping our calendar as it is for the students and parents provides some comfort and predictability.”
Cayman Prep issued a statement to parents indicating it would be sticking to its published term dates, with students returning to school on 4 Jan. after a two-week break. St. Ignatius students will also return to school on 4 Jan., according to the school’s website.
Triple C is taking a different approach – offering an extra week’s vacation.
Mable Richardson, principal of the school, said the board of directors had approved and announced a three-week break before the start of the academic year to allow teachers the chance to visit their families.
Ripple effect
The impact has caused ripples beyond the school community, with some people expressing concern about the wisdom of encouraging teachers to travel to COVID-infected countries.
Troy Leacock, owner of Crazy Crab boat rentals and a spokesperson for water-sports operators, said tourism businesses had willingly borne the brunt of Cayman’s strict approach to travel to help the island stay COVID-free.
In that context, he said it was alarming that teachers were being incentivised to go back to countries were the virus is rife, albeit with a requirement that they quarantine when they return.
“In what universe can it be logical to make a decision that not only enables but encourages 180 expat teachers and their families to return to their home countries at a time when those countries are telling their own people not to travel, not to visit their neighbours or their families over Christmas?”
Leacock said the policy may have been well-meanisng but showed, to him, that government was ‘out of touch’ with the suffering of the people and businesses bearing the brunt of the economic impact of the COVID crisis so the island could remain virus-free.
Government’s official guidance on outbound travel from the Cayman Islands still states, “Non-essential travel is strongly discouraged, as options to return are limited and your stay overseas may be longer than anticipated.”
Leacock said he was also concerned that the civil service decision to offer more remote-working options to its staff, as a consequence of the extended Christmas break, would lead to slower delivery of essential services – such as Needs Assessment Unit applications and Police Clearance certificates – which are already struggling to meet demand.
Deputy Governor Franz Manderson has insisted that backlogs in applications are related to the COVID-19 lockdown and civil servants are working hard to catch up. “We do not expect the short extension to the Christmas holidays to affect this process,” he said.
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