Students from the Wesley Hall Junior School pass the Trident during the Human Chain Link around Barbados, which was part of the island’s 50th anniversary of Independence celebrations.
Schools come out to form Human Chain Link
Tue, 11/29/2016 - 12:00am
Several hundred primary school students, teachers, parents and business people, some wearing their national colours of blue, yellow and black came out to show their national pride for the second attempt of a human chain around Barbados in 37 years.
Students from Eagle Hall Primary, Charles F. Broome, Wesley Hall Junior and Grazettes Primary Schools made their way along Prescod Boulevard to form the human chain to commemorate Barbados’ 50th anniversary of Independence. In addition, the youth from the Barbados Special Olympics (Skills Training Outreach) were also present for the momentous event.
The initiative was undertaken by the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, in collaboration with two non-governmental organisations – The Power of Choice and Trident 10. The 50th Anniversary of Independence Celebrations Secretariat also supported the initiative.
The original start time was 9:30 a.m. and the first group of primary school students, who were designated for the Prescod Boulevard stretch, arrived around 9:24 a.m. Grazettes Primary School was the first to arrive while the largest group, Wesley Hall Junior School, arrived around 9:45 a.m.
It was a sunny but cloudy day, and many teachers and parents walked with umbrellas to shield themselves and the children from the heat. With just three Human Chain marshalls along each kilometre, at times there was a bit of confusion and miscommunication between teachers and the marshalls as to where the schools were to take position. This resulted in students from Wesley Hall Primary School forming a bottleneck near the entrance of the BICO Factory Outlet.
By 10:30 a.m., most of the children and other participants had taken position and the police communicated that the link should be formed by 10:45. The two lanes of traffic remained opened until this time. With the exercise to end at 11 a.m., participants were instructed by the marshalls and the police to link their hands, sing the National Anthem and recite the National Pledge before the ceremonial passing of the Trident to each individual along the stretch of highway.