Opposition Spokesperson on Education and Training, Dr Angela Brown Burke, is urging the Government to focus more on the impact rising coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and poor internet connectivity are having on Jamaican schools, which could potentially derail students’ return to the classroom.

Brown Burke, at a People’s National Party (PNP) press conference on Tuesday (January 11), said that while she is pleased children are back in the formal, face-to-face setting, after nearly two years of disrupted learning, the issues highlighted cannot be ignored.

“Against the background of the reopening of schools and an unprecedented spike in COVID numbers…many parents and teachers are concerned about how the Government and all of us as citizens are going to ensure our children are educated while providing a safe environment for everyone,” Brown Burke argued.

“We are not where we need to be in terms of stable internet connectivity and broadband access at our schools nor in our communities. In fact, after almost [two] years since COVID, we are still woefully behind in building out the needed technological backbone,” she asserted further.

Brown Burke acknowledged the ongoing efforts by several corporate entities to donate tablets and other learning devices but argued, however, that internet service provision could be another avenue for Government to “aggressively pursue” partnering with the business community.

“We are not where we need to be either in terms of devices in the hands of the majority of our students. In fact, to date, the Government of Jamaica has yet to give a proper report on exactly where we are and how many students are [still] without devices. We have not also heard a comprehensive plan about how we reach the critical percentage of students that need/have devices. A proper account from the Ministry of Education is needed,” the South West St Andrew Member of Parliament (MP) contended further.

The shadow education minister also gave the Government a failing grade with respect to parental and home-based support required for online and independent study.

“We haven’t even started talking about the risks to our children who are at home without supervision and exposed to many negative influences as well as the absence of that sure meal from school and the professional counselling, psychosocial support that is provided from school,” she said.

“The truth is that the prolonged closures of our schools only serve to widen the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. So the question really is, ‘How do we balance the need and concerns of education and health in our schools, in the era of COVID?’. And while we engage in face-to-face learning, we also have to quickly improve the technology available to schools and communities to allow for a blended approach for the future, because that’s where the world is headed,” the opposition spokesperson added.

In the meantime, Brown Burke welcomed the ministry’s decision to reopen schools islandwide, despite Jamaica failing to reach the 65 per cent fully vaccinated benchmark established by the Government.

“The Opposition supports that decision wholeheartedly as we have been calling for face-to-face [classes] for a long time. We had thought the 65 per cent [threshold] was pulled from the air and not a realistic benchmark to me,” she said.

The Opposition MP expressed thanks to teachers and principals for their “innovation, creativity and passion” amid the raging pandemic, adding that some schools are still appealing for more resources and greater autonomy to tweak curricula on a case-by-case, student-centred approach.