 The Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training is reporting a successful return to the classroom for the nation's student population. The school term resumed in the physical setting for all students on Monday 8th November 2021, as the island draws nearer to resolution of the fourth wave of COVID-19. The Ministry of Education has also announced that it will be embarking on academic recovery and accelerated learning programs to compensate for lost instruction time. Details in this report by Herbody Mark. Students across the island returned to the physical classroom setting on Monday. Instruction had to be conducted via virtual platforms for students with smart devices and internet connectivity following the onset of the fourth wave of COVID-19 in St. Usher. Officials from the Ministry of Education took the opportunity on Monday, visiting various schools with a view of ensuring that students had a seamless transition back to the classroom. Honourable Dr. Pauline Antoine Prospep, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training explained that several measures have been put in place to ensure the health and safety of all students. Well, we would know that last year we had a tomb where all the students were back and most schools have refined their protocols to ensure the safety of all students. So you have students wearing their masks at school. We have the social distancing at the schools. We also have where social distancing is masked, we have different, at the gate you would be welcomed by someone who would take your temperature and ensure that your hands are sanitised and they have different pots around the school compound where students can wash their hands and sanitise to ensure that their hands are clean at all times. Acting Education Officer Cyrus Seapal indicated that the Ministry of Education is also embarking on an academic recovery program. The program aims to ensure that no child is left behind as a result of disruptions in instruction. What is important now is the academic performance and along with that now the social upbringing and emotional psychological aspect of it with reference to school. So returning face to face it has more to it than just simply the knowledge aspect of it. And then now with this now we are also considering you have the learning loss that may have taken place because of the distributed learning because as you know yes the teachers were doing their best to try to get everybody with the online platform but there were some children we could not reach. So because of that there would have been some learning loss. So therefore we are putting a program in place for the academic recovery to take place and along with that now we are going to put another program in place called Accelerated Learning. So we are going to have the academic recovery and the Accelerated Learning working together so the children can be where they are supposed to be. Acting Chief Education Officer highlighting the importance of students' return to the classroom explained that students' holistic well-being was considered during the decision making process. In the school setting the psychological component we fit most children when they are at home we don't know what they are going through we don't know the conditions they are at home how much learning is really taking place they want to learn but in the environment with which they operate you also have to consider the psychosocial aspect of it you also have to consider the nutritional aspect of it because remember we have a lot of the children especially the primary school who depend on the feeding program of the Ministry of Education to get a good meal. So all of these components and as I said now we had a number of children who were getting the packages from the schools however we could not give them any feedback because we had no interaction between the teacher and the students so although they would receive a package but they were not getting the feedback. So that one month and that's why the minister had said we are not going to have end of term exams but we are going to have interaction with the children from day one of this month until the last day. So then now the misconceptions that they may have got during the packages that they got or probably where there was internet connectivity issues and then they may have lost on certain things then that one month would actually bridge that gap and prepare them now for next term we are hoping that things will be okay that we will continue the face to face. Principles the island over have welcomed students to return to the classroom. School of St. Mary's College Don Howell assured that the school in collaboration with all stakeholders have put in place the necessary measures to ensure the safety of all students. Schools across the island including special education schools and tertiary institutions resumed in class instruction as of Monday 8th November 2021 using the face to face modality via whole school or alternate day approach.