Two-thirds of Edward Seaga students didn’t log on last school year

Administrators at Edward Seaga Primary School in Kingston are seeking to increase participation of students in remote learning for the academic year that began on Monday.

Acting principal Shernet Clarke-Tomlinson told The Gleaner that anecdotally, learning loss is significant as only 30-35 per cent of students were engaged in online classes during the last academic year.

She detailed that myriad reasons accounted for this low engagement, with the major ones being inadequate devices and spotty Internet connection or none at all.

The acting principal said parents often promised to pick up printed work but did not turn up on collection days, while some sent their children away to the country because of violence or the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clarke-Tomlinson explained that guidance counsellors have visited some of the homes and spoken with parents about their children’s right to an education, with hopes that there would be an improvement.

She noted that teachers are currently collecting accessibility data to determine the number of students who have devices and access to the Internet as some parents may have made tablet purchases or installed Wi-Fi.

Books have also been loaned out to grade six students in an unofficial rental system to supplement online learning.

Clarke-Tomlinson said the school continues to guide parents about how to supervise children during online classes.

“They are more receptive and respectful now because they understand. Sometimes we have to give and take because the environment they are in is not conducive to learning – the space is small, but we have to make the best of it,” she said.

Clarke-Tomlinson reported that in parent-teacher meetings this week, parents said that they were looking forward to their children returning to face-to-face classes.

“Some parents really did not prepare for school, so now that we are talking to them, they are putting more effort into it, and we have to be encouraging them and let them know that it is the new norm, and we have to do our best with the given situation,” said Clarke-Tomlinson.

“Grade one students would not have gotten their Google Classroom credentials as yet. They are new, so they are collecting the data and creating the emails for them. Come next week, the plan is to use Zoom to engage the students until the ministry provides the emails,” she added.

The acting principal said that violence continues to be an external factor affecting students’ attendance and performance.

“Some of these persons who get killed, we know them because they are parents or past students. We are grieving the loss of a parent even now, and the child is in grade five. It’s really a task,” the acting principal said sombrely.

The school’s two guidance counsellors have been working overtime to offer psychosocial support to affected students, said Clarke-Tomlinson.

judana.murphy@gleanerjm.com