 Despite the closure of learning institutions due to the surge of COVID-19 cases, there is still one population of young learners who have been fortunate to return to the classroom amidst the pandemic. This is all due to the concerted efforts of the Early Childhood Services Unit, Administrators and stakeholders. Close to the one-month marker of a successful reopening of the Early Childhood Centre's Islandwide, training officer at the Early Childhood Services Unit, Ruth Philip-Farriere, reflects and says that the move to open Early Childhood centres was a thorough collaborative process including several governmental agencies such as the St Lucia Bureau of Standards, Environmental Health and the Early Childhood Services Unit working to ensure the safety of children, staff and administrators. We had to work with the Bureau first to develop those protocols. When the protocols were established, we had to share it with our key stakeholders so we had to have virtual meetings to get the input from the sector what they felt. Prior to opening, each centre had to develop and complete what we called a COVID-19 response plan where they laid out quite clearly what the guidelines would be for their specific centre in relation to the various, what I would refer to as the national protocol set by the department. After that, they were inspected by the Department of Environmental Health and if the officers found that everything was in line to the standards, then they were granted approval. The age grouping of both two five is a critical time in the development of children and all must be done to ensure that they remain engaged and active. Administrator of the Precious Jewel's Early Childhood Development Centre, Donna Sejiz added that early childhood centres provide so much more than just learning. It's a space for holistic development for young ones which includes socialisation, expression and play. This is where it all begins. The foundation is set between those ages and I think it was very critical for them to be at the centre during this time for face-to-face interaction. Some favourable factors also came into play when it came to considering the reopening of early childhood centres this September. The numbers on site are a lot smaller, therefore spaces are a lot easier to control. Research and science shows that the transmission and mortality rate of this age grouping is extremely low. The strides have been made to create and enforce robust protocols to protect children to allow them to be back at school. Philip's favourite also mentions that children are eager to learn and extremely responsive to the new rules. We are open now when everybody else is closed because as I said it's based on the protocols we have in place and we are dealing with a cohort that is in a sense easier to manage. Our children aim to please. They do not try to be overly disruptive, they do not try to display attitudes of defiance. These young children always want to please their adults in their setting. So as long as the practitioners model the behaviours, we feel very confident that children will also model those behaviours and the spin-off of that is that too will remind the parents of those protocols and ensure that the parents do likewise. 131 early childhood centres are open today and continue to be one shining example of working through the pandemic and also a chance for children to be back at play. From the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training, I am Daniel DuBois reporting.