‘Never give up!’ - Mayor of St Ann’s Bay urges students to adapt to the new method of learning

With the new academic year starting this week via online learning, Mayor of St Ann’s Bay Sydney Stewart is encouraging students to adapt to the new method of learning and prioritise education.

“Never give up! It’s OK to ask for directions, but I urge you, never to get lost,” Stewart said to students in a post on the St Ann Municipal Corporation’s Facebook page on Monday.

Thousands of students began the new school year on Monday, a full month beyond the traditional starting date of the first week of September, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact normal life in Jamaica.

“Let me take this opportunity to encourage all students engaged in formal online learning this morning to continue to give your education your best. We are all ‘trodding’ this somewhat new and unfamiliar territory, but nevertheless, we must try our best to adjust. We must go on and your education still stands as a priority,” Stewart stated.

While Monday marked the official start of the new school year with thousands of students logging on to the Ministry of Education’s Learning Management System (LMS), it is estimated that an even greater number of students were not able to access the system because of a lack of proper equipment and internet access.

HOPING FOR A SOLUTION

But Stewart is hoping that a solution will be found to enable all students to continue their educational pursuits, even as the Government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to provide students with the necessary equipment to facilitate their inclusion in the formal education process.

One initiative is the tablets-in-school programme which seeks to provide 40,000 tablets to students in grades four, five and six.

“My heart goes out to the many students as well, who are somewhat displaced and lost where this whole new phenomenon is concerned, for varying reasons. My hope for you all is that some ‘bridge’ will be constructed soon enough to also fully engage you in your quest for an education,” the mayor stated.

“We will get through this, as a parish, as a country, and we will emerge stronger,” he added.

Carl Gilchrist