AFTER a nearly two-week strike in October by unionised workers which crippled operations at University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech), the Students’ Union Council has launched an initiative to help students recover lost classroom time.

According to UTech Students’ Union President Khalil Hutchinson, the Study Lyme measure is aimed at filling in the contact hours missed by students.

The initiative, which has been running from December 2, is expected to continue until December 11, from 6:00 pm daily to midnight. Students are given the opportunity to practise past papers under the supervision of lecturers.

This will thus allow students to get an understanding of the structure of the exam, therefore ensuring overall effectiveness.

“The reason we took up this initiative is mainly due to the fact that students would have missed classes during the semester 1 period, and as a result may not fully grasp all the content that was delivered,” Hutchinson told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

“It is therefore our hope that by hosting the Study Lyme, students will be able to understand content better, thus being better prepared for examinations,” he said further.

Unionised lecturers at the university started shunning classrooms on Friday, October 25 during negotiations between the management of UTech and the union, after the Government pulled out of the talks, having made what it said was its last offer, which was rejected.

After much angst, which saw students also staging protests, a temporary resumption of work agreement, beginning Wednesday, November 6, was reached in lieu of an improved offer.

— Alicia Dunkley-Willis