Education Minister Fayval Williams on Tuesday (January 11) announced plans that will be initiated to aid in re-engaging hundreds of unaccounted for students since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Speaking during yesterday’s sitting of the House of Representatives, Williams, now the Minister of Education and Youth, stated that 294 schools have cumulatively reported over 15,000 unaccounted for students.

The pandemic, which caused the closure of schools islandwide, forced learning to take place in a virtual capacity. Thus, children had to rely on the use of tablets, computers, phones and internet connectivity.

Many of the impoverished and those who reside in very rural areas, possibly stood at a major disadvantage, having no access to the items needed to participate in the online platforms.

This is one of many reasons that could account for a number of the absentee students.

In an effort to rectify this issue, Williams expressed the Yard to Yard Find the Child Initiative, a national call to action to identify, locate and re-engage students. The initiative will run for three months, and is set to end in March. Scores of persons will be sent out to visit homes, in an effort to reconnect with students, so they are able to continue their education.

“Through this initiative, 580 youth workers under the HOPE programme and 108 social wrkers will be engaged to complement the school-based teams of 478 public schools islandwide to go yard to yard to find our students and to reengage them with their schools so that they can continue their learning,” Williams explained.

Additionally, to help guide this effort, Williams announced plans to develop an app.

“Also, a Family Connect App is being developed as a tool to support the data collection and reporting processes to inform evidence-based interventions,” she explained.

According to the education minister, all public schools are now engaged in the reverification process of their unaccounted for students. Data of the over 15,000 unaccounted for students is currently being submitted by the different schools for the app. An inter-ministerial approach will be used to aid these targeted families.

Despite the challenges currently being faced and expected by the ministry, Williams shared that they are determined and committed to the best educational opportunities for all children.