Generation of students could lose year of education – Robinson
Published:Wednesday | October 7, 2020 | 12:17 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
Thousands of students from inner-city and rural communities are at risk of being displaced or left behind as a result of the digital divide as the new academic year enters its third day today, Julian Robinson has said.
Robinson, opposition spokesperson on science, technology and information, raised the concerns and sought to highlight deficiencies in the Government’s agenda during a press conference at the Jamaica Conference Centre on Tuesday.
Spotty Internet service and limited access to computers have hobbled at least 400,000 students, a necessity in the new age of COVID-19 since the shuttering of schools in mid-March.
Robinson said that Jamaica could see “potentially a generation ... lose an entire year of education” – blame he lay at the feet of the Holness administration.
“In my view, it is caused by a failure to plan. ...
“It needs to be done because the kids who are being left behind are the poor kids and they are not the ones who have a data plan at home. They are not the kids who have one or two tablets; they are the poor who have a single mother who has three children and only phone,” he told the press conference.
Brighter students or those with strong parental guidance will survive, but others won’t be so fortunate, he argued.
Minister of Education Fayval Williams announced in Parliament on Tuesday that it would take eight weeks for the 40,000 tablets for students on state welfare to be fully delivered, while failing to give a timeline for the additional 36,000 devices for pupils who do not subscribe to the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education.
Meanwhile, Opposition Spokesman on Education Dr Angela Brown Burke said that she found it ironic that despite the Government’s statement that no child would be left behind, hundreds of thousands of students were still unable to fully participate because of the lack of devices, as well as inadequate Internet service or electricity supply.
“Stories abound with classes abandoned because data done or shared devices that have made it too difficult for persons. Then also we have persons opting out of university because they just can’t afford to acquire the learning tools that are required at this time,” Brown Burke said, citing what she said were systemic inequities.
“It seems to me that the Government is unaware that families are still struggling to provide solutions where they have multiple children at home, often in different grades, or even different schools,” she said.