Peter Espeut | Story come to bump

The opening of the school year with virtual rather than face-to-face classes has run into easily predictable problems. I foresaw these stumbling blocks six months ago, and included them in my column published in this newspaper on April 17, 2020. I stated then that:

“I know that some Kingston high schools had classes before Easter using Zoom and Moodle. They even had morning assembly, with each student in the comfort of their homes. I am sure that some high schools will resume classes shortly after the Easter break, and their students will take their CXCs and CAPE subjects and do well.

“But I am also sure that some high schools without this technology will not resume classes for now, and therefore some Jamaican students will be left behind. It is at a time like this that the digital divide will widen the class divisions in our already highly unequal society.

“Even if the school has access to the technology, and to the internet which links teachers to students, the home situation of many students will prevent them from continuing their education right now. Many for financial reasons have no computer and/or no internet access; the digital divide will exacerbate class divisions.”

Six months later, it all has come to pass. Story come to bump!

WORSE SITUATION

I was writing about the situation in high schools, but the situation with primary schools – not to mention basic schools and infant schools – has got to be much, much worse.

I think many primary schools – I know a few – were preparing for face-to-face classes this term, and at the last minute had to pivot (this is the latest buzz word) to online classes.

Teachers and students are expected to stay at home conducting and taking online classes; it is alleged that all teachers have been given tablets, but we know that only a few students have devices suitable for participation in online learning; smartphones are not adequate. Neither in the inner city nor in the rural areas is access to Wi-Fi or Internet service satisfactory, if present.

Six months ago I wrote:

“The government must quickly take steps to help Jamaicans to bridge the digital divide. The Tablets-in-School Programme must be expanded to make one available to every student, and the Universal Service Fund must in reality make high-speed internet truly universal – or at least islandwide.”

I do not believe my powers of prediction are greater than those possessed by the officers in the Ministry of Education. Surely, all the problems we now face were known more than six months ago. Why do so few students have tablets or laptops today to start the school term? And why are there so few publicly accessible Internet/Wi-Fi hotspots? In my view, the Government had enough time to prepare for online teaching this term.

Does the Ministry of Education really expect toddlers in basic and infant schools to take classes using tablets and smartphones? Surely, some workable face-to-face arrangements could have been put in place for these, the most vulnerable, at the beginning of their school careers.

At each primary institution, dozens of teachers still have to go to school to leave written exercises for their students to collect at the school gate; hundreds of students have to go to the school gate to collect (and sign for) their assignments, and to drop them off when complete (and receive a receipt); teachers have to go to school to collect the homework to mark it, and then to drop it back for the students to collect. It seems to me that these arrangements require both teachers and students to frequently be at school, even briefly, which produces the same exposure to infection on public transportation.

It seems that children of better-off parents will be the only ones guaranteed to advance their education this school year, widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

But then, that is being true to our history.

Espeut is a sociologist and development scientist. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com