Stakeholders call for a mixed approach in September

Many education stakeholders welcomed the Prime Minister Andrew Holness’s announcement of a planned return to face-to-face classes in the new school year which is expected to begin on 7 September 2021, but they feel a mixed modality is a more realistic aim.

The Prime Minister said the Ministry of Education was “ready” for the resumption of face-to-face classes in September. He made the declaration while speaking at a virtual town hall meeting on Vaccine Sensitisation for the Education System on 11 June.  Holness suggested that the possibility of a September resumption would be firmer if most teachers got vaccinated (80 to 90%).

While welcoming the idea of a return to face-to-face several principals and teachers say they would prefer a mix of online and face-to-face until the either the majority of the population was vaccinated, or the virus was seen to be under control. According to the principal of the St. Jago High school, Collette Fuertado Pryce, the mixed modality would help to deal with the shortfalls in vaccination while bridging the gaps brought about by the absence of face-to-face classes over the last two academic years. Mrs. Pryce said the business of educating the nation’s children must be a priority and the necessary steps must be taken to ensure they were engaged. She recommended the continued adherence to the current protocols where mass vaccination had not been achieved and the hybrid use online and face-to-face classes.

Mrs. Christina Whittle, who is a special education teacher, said her students found it very difficult to cope with the online platform and lamented that their frustrations were often times manifested in low turnout or high rates of absenteeism. Whittle said the socio-economic status of the school at which she worked and the students that attended the institution meant that most students were absent from the online platform on any given day. She said the issues being faced ranged from lack of access to devices, students doing chores at home during class time, lack of internet and a lack of interest in attending classes.

Upper Sixth form student, Courtney McGregor, said it had been really hard for him as a CAPE student working online. McGregor said he struggled to stay focused in online classes as he found the classes to be “bland and boring.” He said distractions online and at home coupled with bad internet connection added to his frustration with the online platform. He described the mixed modality as the lesser of two evils but said the challenges associated with online classes will still be present and must be addressed. “Until the issues of the online platform is fixed, students will have an excuse to not attend school.”

At least one teacher agreed with McGregor that there was a need for more engagement and interactive teaching online. Grade supervisor and physical education teacher at the Jose Marti Technical High School, Mr. Phillip Pinnock, said he has enjoyed great success with the online platform and credited his interactive approach to teaching online to his good fortune. Pinnock teaches the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) group which means he has been out with his students for face-to-face classes for the past few weeks. He admitted that the experience of being back to face-to-face has done a lot to lessen his fears of a full return to this mode of teaching. However, he described the mixed approach as “the more viable option to begin with.”