The Ministry of Education has started a series of meetings with principals, teachers, parents and unions to discuss major plans being executed across the public education system.

Sources said there has been a meeting of principals, a meeting at CedarBridge Academy for teachers, and there will be a meeting tonight at East End Primary School for parents of children at all three primary schools in St George’s.

East End Primary School is to remain open under the plans, while St David’s Primary School and St George’s Preparatory School are both to close.

Another source said that there will also be a meeting tomorrow at Clearwater Middle School, which is to close its doors in June and reopen as a signature school.

A meeting due to be held at West End Primary School last night was postponed.

In a letter sent to parents of children attending the primary schools in St George’s and shared with this newspaper, the ministry said: “The Minister of Education, Diallo Rabain, would like to invite you to an important meeting to provide an overview of the transition from a three-tier to a two-tier system timeline being shared with our key stakeholders beginning the week of April 10, 2023.

“We ask that you join the Minister of Education, the Commissioner of Education [Kalmar Richards] and the Head of the Education Reform Unit [Lisa DeSilva] for an in-person meeting on Wednesday, April 12 at 6pm at East End Primary Auditorium to discuss the transition plan for 2023 and beyond.”

Correspondence was posted on East End Primary School’s Facebook page with the same information, adding: “We encourage you to attend this meeting so you can hear the information first hand.”

It is understood that a meeting will be held with St George’s teachers on the same day before the parent meeting.

A separate letter shared with this newspaper said that Thursday’s meeting at Clearwater Middle School in St George’s will be held at 3.45pm.

West End Primary School in Sandys, one of the eight primary schools slated for closure, posted on its Facebook page that tonight’s meeting has been postponed. It was billed as a “parish primary school presentation by Learning First” with parents and guardians encouraged to attend.

Last week, more than 100 people turned out for a meeting in support of saving West End Primary from closure.

They discussed the importance of the school as a community hub and its role in the history of Somerset, particularly as a place of free education for Black children during segregation.

West End is one of eight primaries facing closure as part of the Government’s education reform programme.

Under the plan, each parish will have one primary school except for Pembroke, which will have two.

Purvis Primary School in Warwick Parish and Francis Patton Primary School in Hamilton Parish, are due to open their doors as the first two parish primary schools this September.

Under the reform plans, middle schools will be phased out with those changing to signature schools to include specialisms in trades and professions. In September, The Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy were the first two signature schools to open.

It was announced last month that Heron Bay Primary School in Southampton will close permanently in June and that Clearwater Middle School will close its doors temporarily in June in order to undergo renovations before being reopened as a signature school.

In February, it was announced that plans to transform Sandys Secondary Middle School into a signature senior school this September have been delayed.

The Royal Gazette has asked the Ministry of Education for details of the plans being announced, including what the future holds for the two remaining middle schools — Whitney Institute Middle School in Smith’s Parish and Dellwood Middle School in Pembroke Parish.

We are awaiting a response.