Following public discussion of the concerns surrounding the request of a primary school to purchase cleaning supplies for the new school term as part of the booklists given to students, the Ministry of Education takes this opportunity to address these apprehensions. The Ministry was made aware of this request as early as Monday 8th July, 2019. Upon learning of the request, the school was immediately asked to recall the book list and Director of School Supervision and Management, Mrs Naima Hosein issued an instruction to School Supervisors II and III on July 9th, to collect copies of all book lists of the schools under their purview, both primary and secondary, to evaluate and ensure that no items outside of books and stationery were being requested. The recall of the booklists happened less than one week after they would have been distributed to parents.
The opportunity is also taken to advise school principals and Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) that if the school’s PTA is attempting the raise funds or to ask for assistance with any items in aid of the school, the principal must be judicious in the application of the school’s logo in branding documents. The aforementioned case of the unfortunate ‘grocery list’ being attached to a necessary booklist is one such example.
Parents and guardians are advised that if at any time there are questions or concerns surrounding your child/ward’s school please feel free to use channels such as the school’s principal, the Education District Offices, the Ministry’s Facebook or call 622-2181 for assistance.