Diexter Thomas
GIBRALTARs students wont have to worry about sitting A-LEVEL and GCSE exams this year.
This comes as the UK Government declared that examinations held in May and June would be cancelled as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.
Despite exam cancellations, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, “We will make sure that people get the qualifications they need and deserve for their academic career.”
A fifth of Gibraltar’s teachers haven’t been going to schools and only 35% of students are attending lessons.
Since exams are out of the picture, Gibraltar’s schools won’t be used for educational purposes as from Monday until further notice.
Schools will instead be used as a safe place for children to stay while parents are working.
“We envisage continuing to provide facilities for all key workers who need their children to be looked after whilst they are at work,” said Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.
The children will have hot meals served whilst looked after in Government schools.
Though this initiative depends on the number of parents interested and the number of children using this service.
Parents can register their interest by giving a note to one of the many teachers at the schools.
Growing Situation
There are six cases of COVID-19 confirmed by the Gibraltar Government, with two patients reported to have recovered.
This comes as the UK has 2,600 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus, which has taken 104 lives.
Over 205,000 confirmed cases of the virus have been recorded around the world, with there being more cases in Europe than China, the virus’s origin.
“It is also clear that schools are increasingly finding it more difficult to continue as normal,” said UK Education Secretary Gavin Williamson.
“I can confirm that we will not go ahead with assessments or exams, and that we will not be publishing performance tables for this academic year,” he added.
