A committee established to research the history and legacy of public primary schools, including those earmarked for closure, missed an initial deadline to submit its findings.

The Ministry of Education told The Royal Gazette in a statement earlier this week that the group was “delayed” in meeting the November 30, 2023 deadline but did make submissions by the end of the year, which were now being assessed.

It said: “We eagerly anticipate further engagement with our stakeholders on this matter in the near future."

A campaigner for one of the schools facing the axe questioned why the ministry-appointed committee had yet to conduct all of its interviews, more than a month after the submission deadline had passed.

Former education permanent secretary Ellen-Kate Horton, of the West End Warriors, which opposes the closure of West End Primary School in Sandys, said on Wednesday: “I called our school. I said, ‘have you heard from them?’.”

“The committee asked the schools to put three names forward and they would discuss history and legacy. Nobody has been interviewed.”

West End Warriors last year convinced the Ministry of Education to reassess its widescale reform of the public education system.

The ministry’s plan is for each of the island’s nine parishes to have a single primary school, except for Pembroke, which will have two.

The Government announced in July 2021 that West End would close, as well as seven other schools, based on scores given in four weighted categories: 30 per cent for land conditions, 30 per cent for safety and health, and 20 per cent each for existing building conditions and transport.

In July, a rethink was announced, with the ministry pledging to rescore 15 public primary schools, giving “enhanced consideration for legacy, specifically for parishes with more than one school”.

Ms Horton said since then she had been trying without success to find out how history and legacy would be weighted in the new scoring system.

Before school desegregation in the early 1970s, West End Primary was the only school Black children could attend in Sandys parish. Somerset Primary School was for Whites only. The latter was chosen by the education minister in 2021 to stay open and become the parish primary for Sandys.

Ms Horton, who graduated from West End in 1957, said that decision was hurtful to many, including those who “lived that” history and who viewed West End as a hub of the community.

“I couldn’t walk on the grounds of Somerset Primary School,” she said. “It was only 50 some years ago that we were first allowed to go over there.”

West End Warriors recently won a partial victory in their bid to get the education ministry to release records showing how the decision on which schools should close was reached.

Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez issued a decision on December 29, which found that the ministry appropriately denied many parts of a public access to information request submitted by the group in October 2021, but did not conduct a reasonable search for some of the requested records.

She gave civil servants until February 9 to look again and issue a decision on any new records they find.

Ms Horton said: “The group has received the report from the commissioner. We are thankful for it and we applaud them for their work. We are still going through it with a fine-tooth comb.

“We are thankful that they did ask for other records that we didn’t receive to be searched for again.”

The ministry said in a statement it was “fully aware” of the decision and "actively allocating resources to comply with the commissioner's order“ .

The statement continued: “Our commitment to transparent and responsive communication with all stakeholders remains unwavering.”

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