By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

EDUCATION Director Lionel Sands said yesterday that no child will be denied access to an education in the fall semester, despite a new immigration policy requiring non-Bahamians to have a student permit and a passport with a residency stamp.

Mr Sands told The Tribune that the Department of Education is willing to “work with” individuals on a “case by case” basis to ensure that every child is allowed to attend school in September.

He said his department will release the registration requirements for new students entering the public system today, as school registration begins next month for the fall semester. While he could not say how many students overall will be affected by the new requirement, he revealed that education officials expect at least 6,000 grade one students to be affected.

“We have been meeting with immigration officials all week to determine how this new system will work and what we are required to do,” he said.

“We have to ensure that our work is consistent with the regulations and because registrations starts next month we are looking to release those new requirements on Wednesday. I cannot say how many non-Bahamians will be registering but we expect about 6,000 first graders to be impacted by the new system.

“We are still trying to figure out how it will all work because the permit is issued by the Department of Immigration and not us. But the new rules for registration for public schools will be out by tomorrow afternoon. These will apply to students entering school for the first time as well as students who are moving from primary school to junior high and junior high to senior high,” he said.

Mr Sands also hit out at critics of the policy, who have said non-Bahamians will not be able to afford the $125 inclusive cost for the student permit and processing fees.

He said: “History has shown that non-Bahamians comply much faster when it comes to finances, so I do not think that will be an issue at all. But we will make provisions in any event for those who cannot afford it to make sure that no student will be denied access to education.”

Last month, Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell announced that beginning this Fall, every foreign person enrolled in school, even children born in The Bahamas to non-Bahamian parents, will be required to have a student permit and a passport with a residency stamp.

Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette said the government should delay implementing its new restrictions until 2016.

Mr Symonette also said making it harder for children of immigrants to get an education could create a slippery slope that results in a myriad of long-term social problems for Bahamians.

He also said that he doubted the new policy is well thought out and questioned how the Department of Immigration will be able to meet the increased demand for processing.

The student restrictions are part of a wider immigration policy introduced on November 1, 2014. That policy mandates, among other things, that every person in this country have a passport of their nationality with proof to legally reside and work in the Bahamas.

Some critics have said the policy unfairly targets Haitians or persons of Haitian descent.