Samuda hails teachers for coronavirus response
Published:Tuesday | April 7, 2020 | 12:00 AMPaul Clarke/Gleaner Writer
KARL SAMUDA, the minister with responsibility for the education portfolio, has lavished praise on the nation’s teachers and technocrats within the ministry for quickly pulling together measures to keep children learning while schools remain closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said there is a tremendous amount of work that is now being done by the Ministry of Education’s professionals.
“These are the people who get it done, who have to see to the National Standards Curriculum, and who have to make sure it is sent to the students individually, who see to it that it’s followed up, and that the papers are assessed and evaluated,” Samuda said.
“These are the people the country will ultimately owe a debt of gratitude, along with our health workers, two of the most critical sectors in keeping our country on the right path,” he added.
The Government, he said, has put in place a system that had to be acted upon “with lightning speed” when it took the decision to lock down all schools across the country.
There are over 500,000 registered students in Jamaica at the early-childhood, primary, and secondary levels.
Samuda told The Gleaner that as minister, he had a huge responsibility in making such representation to the Cabinet with regard to the closure of schools.
“We had to consider all the factors involved, including how we would still be able to educate all these children. So we had to quickly come up with ways to keep them studying, which we have done,” said Samuda.
He reasoned that while parents and guardians have the children at home and bear some of the responsibility in keeping them engaged in the learning process, it takes serious input from teachers and ministry officials to keep the system afloat.
“They are the ones, from the headmasters, teachers, the guidance counsellors, and everyone involved directly with educating the nation’s children. These are our heroes,” Samuda noted.
Further, he said that the country may end up with better results from subsequent Primary Exit Profile and Caribbean Examinations Council tests, because students may have a higher level of involvement in more familiar and comfortable environments.
“This could be the case, as staying at home could be conducive to them being more relaxed, and, hence, able to learn more,” he said.