Bring it on!

A day of Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) ‘super classes’ has left students of Penwood High School feeling more prepared for the regional exams which commence today.

The sessions were hosted on Saturday by the Jamaica Millenium Vision for Youth (JMVY) at two locations in St Andrew West Central.

Donte Tomlinson, who will be sitting five CSEC subjects, has been affected by inconsistent Internet connection at home.

“Some of the mathematics topics were challenging, but I think I’m ready for exams now and I hope to pass all of them,” he said.

Dwayne Bryan has deferred two of the five subjects he registered to sit this year. Though mathematics was one of the subjects he deferred, he turned up to the session hoping to sharpen his skills.

“Any chance I get to go to a face-to-face class, I take it. I get to interact with the teacher more,” the 16-year-old said as he expressed gratitude to the organisers.

Principal Donna McLaren said the teaching and learning process has been significantly impacted since schools were shuttered by COVID-19, as most students are visual learners and require face-to-face interaction.

“We welcome this intervention because COVID-19 and poverty have had a negative impact on our cohort. This intervention today will help to reinforce some of the topics that they weren’t confident in or did not understand,” McLaren said.

With low attendance in online classes, the principal shared that teachers have been pulling out all the stops since physical classes resumed six weeks ago to increase the chances of students passing their subjects.

DEFERRAL STUDENTS

McLaren told The Gleaner that 68 students are registered to sit CSEC, but 26 of them have deferred some of their subjects until next year.

“We will try and accommodate our deferral students first and then we look at those who need to repeat,” she said, adding that the school has the capacity to fit another 100 students with the social-distancing guidelines in place.

JMVY President Chad Rattray said the ‘super classes’ were a means of community outreach for vulnerable students.

“It’s a one-stop class. We seek to get as much teaching and tutoring in as possible,” he said, adding that sessions have also been held online.

Prior to Saturday, JMVY and its team of tutors also held ‘super classes’ in three other constituencies, spanning St Thomas, Clarendon and St Andrew.

Member of Parliament for St Andrew West Central, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, visited the school while classes were in session and presented tablets to some of the students without devices. “We are expecting that we will have vaccines widely available in August and we will continue to vaccinate our older population, our critical workers - healthcare workers, police force, military and our teachers. By September, the plan is that we should be able to return to school face-to-face, but we need you to commit to wearing your masks, not just here, but everywhere you go, to slow the spread,” Holness appealed.

He said if there is an uncontrolled spread or a spike, then the Government may have to consider closing schools in September.

Holness added that it appears that there is hesitancy among teachers towards getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

“The two work together. For us to reopen, we need teachers to be vaccinated,” Holness said.