Excerpts from Jamaica Observer
column published MON 6 Sept 2021
by Jean Lowrie-Chin
 |
| Trisha Williams-Singh, ECC Chair |
Well ahead of Covid, former ECC Chair Professor Maureen
Samms Vaughan and current Chair Trisha Williams-Singh spearheaded programmes
and standards that give Jamaican pre-schoolers a solid start. Every new parent
should download the ‘First 1000 Days’ App developed by the ECC which gives a
great deal of practical advice.
Similarly, as we listened to the Tashi Widmer (via
interpreter Denque Wedderburn), Executive Director of CCCD, Chair Grace Lindo
and staff members from the campuses in Kingston, Manchester and St. James, we
were assured that their deaf students would be able to avail themselves of
quality education. If you know of a needy child who is deaf, please consider
offering them a scholarship to CCCD and watch them bloom.
Despite these valiant efforts, the data shared last
week by CAPRI Researcher Stephanie Sewell is disturbing. In her presentation
titled “Time Out – Impact of Covid-19 on Education” (available on YouTube), we
learn that half of the households in vulnerable communities have no internet
access, 20 percent have no suitable devices, paediatricians are seeing poor
health issues and grades are falling.
She described the
ideal conditions for learning at home: comfortable spaces and parents working
from home who can supervise their children.
“The presence of
all these variables as you can imagine in one home are more likely to be found
among households in the upper socioeconomic quintile as compared to poorer
households and especially multi-person households within vulnerable communities,”
she noted.
She said that
comparing the Grade Six ability tests of February 2020 and February 2021, there
was an eight percent decline in the performance of students, with the average
mean score moving from 60 percent to 52 percent. At the secondary level, they identified a
decline in the number of students sitting such examinations as the NCTVET and CXC.
But here is
another worrying situation: “Apart from learning loss, we can see that school
closures can also have an impact on other areas, such as causing weight gain
and other diet related illnesses including diabetes and hypertension. Students
have also been impacted by increases in hyperactivity, indiscipline, sadness,
loneliness, frustration, and anxiety.”
She noted that a
group of Caribbean pediatricians have made a statement that our children “are
on the cusp of a regional childhood obesity emergency and mental health
emergency.”
They note that the
situation “is exacerbated by the lack of or reduced access to guidance
counselors and other in person coping mechanisms for students, higher screen
time ... using online learning can cause issues to do with eye health and distractibility
or lack of focus and even less emotional stability for students.”
In a previous
study, CAPRI’s ‘Stress Test’, there were reports of Covid's impact on violence:
“Pre-teen boys and teenage boys who had no devices were dropping out of school
forming cliques, carrying knives, smoking, gambling and getting into fights. Girls
are also at a higher risk of abuse and sexual exploitation when not in school.”
She acknowledged the
improvements made by the Education Ministry, but urged the return to
face-to-face classes as soon as possible. She recommends, “COVID testing
regimes for teachers as well as students should be instituted; surveys of
infection and positivity rates for communities surrounding schools should be
undertaken and alternative locations such as church halls, community centres
and other larger locations should be engaged to be used as classrooms to allow
for social social-distancing as well as to reduce class sizes where possible.”
While we wait for this third surge to end, she
is calling for improvements to online learning, “for example, establish and
support smaller groups of students, use the learning pods as a methodology for
remote teaching, continue to expand the internet infrastructure and internet
access across the island.”
At the event,
Education Minister Williams said her Ministry welcomed the research, noting
that significant efforts were made to provide devices to the most vulnerable
students and assistance to teachers. She said that while face-to-face classes
were not yet possible, “our focus in the coming year until able to get back
into the business environment and even beyond that, is to ensure that those
children who are not consistently engaged with the educational system that we
know exactly who they are, that we make the necessary intervention for them and
so at least by the end of the year we're hoping that we would have caught them
up to at least where they were before the pandemic.”
Hope Zoo’s
crucial role
One of the many establishments
that has been severely handicapped by the pandemic is the Hope Zoo, owned by
the Government of Jamaica and resuscitated through the kindness of Guardsman
Chairman Kenny Benjamin. The Zoo was transformed into an oasis and pre-Covid,
was a preferred spot for family outings.
Marketing Manager
Patrice Levy pointed out the crucial role of the Hope Zoo Foundation, its
responsibility for conservation practice, advocacy and research. “Conservation practice
entails captive breeding, species reintroduction programs, Species survival plans
and the use of zoo revenue for conservation programs in the wild,” she explained.
“Conservation advocacy includes public engagement, promoting awareness,
advocating stewardship, and fundraising.”
The Hope Zoo is a wild-life sanctuary
which collaborates with National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA)
to rescue native species.
Injured or orphaned animals are cared for until they can be released back into
the wild. “Others with permanent injuries are given a new forever home here at
Hope Zoo,” she says.
The Hope Zoo Foundation initiated the conservation programme
for the Jamaican iguana, successfully housing and protecting 300 of reptiles
for up to six years before releasing them back to their natural habitat.
Spread over 57 acres with a 65-strong team, there is enough
space to distance and enjoy the surroundings. With the recent lockdowns, there
is the need for funding to support the high cost of feeding the wide variety of
animals. Big thanks to Nayana Williams of Lifespan water for contributing proceeds
from her sales.
