The Government has made another about-turn and reopened P1 enrolment for the 2025-26 school year for another primary school.

In a statement tonight, Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, said that enrolment at Somerset Primary School will be allowed.

Last week, the Government backtracked on its decision to halt P1 enrolment at St George’s Preparatory School after meeting with the school’s Parent Teacher Association.

Mr Rabain said that the reopening of enrolment at Somerset Primary School was made for the same reason, adding that he had met with that school’s PTA yesterday.

During the discussions, Mr Rabain heard the community’s desire to continue enrolment until the school closes in a major shake-up of the education system.

Explaining his decision, Mr Rabain said: “It should be noted that the initial decision to pause P1 enrolments was made with careful consideration of its long-term implications.

“Specifically, discontinuing P1 enrolments allows for a natural phase-out at both schools and this approach reduces the number of students who would later face the challenge of transitioning to a new school.

“Allowing continued P1 enrolments would lead to a larger student body needing to navigate the eventual closure and relocation process.

“Both of these PTA executives, after understanding the potential impacts, ultimately chose to continue P1 enrolments, which we consider as the most disruptive option.

“However, the ministry appreciates that P1 enrolment is an important and sensitive time for parents, and we remain committed to providing the necessary support to help families navigate this process.

“I want to thank the PTA executives and parents of both schools for their thoughtful advocacy as we work together to ensure a smooth enrolment process for the 2025-26 school year.”

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education said that because of “technical limitations” with the existing online P1 application system, a separate process had been developed for parents wishing to register for the first time or amend an earlier application.

Applicants for both Somerset Primary and St George’s Prep are asked to use the following link: bit.ly/P1_Somerset_Prep.

Applications for other primary schools should be made through bit.ly/Register-Student.

The spokeswoman added: “Parents who have already submitted a P1 application must resubmit an updated one to indicate their interest in St George’s Prep or Somerset Primary.

“Applications submitted without this update will not be processed for these schools, and the original submission will remain in effect.

Somerset Primary will be holding an open house on Tuesday next week. Parents wanting to learn more about St George’s Prep are asked to contact the school on 297-0370 to schedule an appointment.

The deadline for registrations has been extended to December 13. Applications received after this date will be considered late and processed only after all on-time applications have been reviewed.