All schools on Barbuda remain closed – Clare Browne

The Director of Education, Clare Browne, is informing the public that schools on Barbuda are still closed and all Barbudan teachers who were assigned to schools in Antigua, should remain in Antigua.
He made the assurance in light of an allegation that some Barbudan parents have returned to the sister island for Christmas with their children, and are yet to return to Antigua.
“In order for schools to re-open on Barbuda, the teachers would have to be back in Barbuda. In order for the teachers to be back on Barbuda there must be adequate accommodation for them,” Browne said during an interview yesterday.
He added that “in order for schools to re-open in Barbuda, there must be students there, and in order for this to happen the community has to be back up and there is suitable accommodation for students and parents.”
The director of education also said that the ministry was not informed by anyone that his or her child or children would return to Barbuda.
However, his department will be conducting an assessment of the students who were placed in schools here to verify the numbers.
Over 200 Barbudans from the Holy Trinity Primary School were transferred to schools in Antigua two weeks after Hurricane Irma destroyed the island in September.
Students attending Sir McChesney George Secondary School were also placed in secondary schools here.
Browne said that the Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda made the decision to close schools on Barbuda after the hurricane, and it is left up to the Cabinet to say when those schools will re-open.