ST ANN, Jamaica — Sophia Forbes Hall, the regional director for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information Region 3, says schools under her watch are ready for COVID-19.

Region 3 covers the parishes of Trelawny and St Ann.

“We are cognisant of the effect of the virus and that a large part of the population, and by extension our students and staff members, may be affected, but we are prepared,” Forbes told the OBSERVER ONLINE earlier today.

She added that the region will be having meetings with representatives of the Quality Education Circle which consists of principals, community representatives and staff representatives across St Ann and Trelawny, tomorrow and Friday.

 The meetings, she said, will form part of the contingency arrangements being devised for the students in case there is a spread of the virus.

“We cannot dictate the spread of the virus and if the system [education] shuts down, we plan to have the staff and students engaged at home. A resource bank has been created by each school. This contains worksheets which will be disseminated to the students at their respective levels,” she explained.

When asked how students will access such information, Forbes stated that each school has a database containing contact numbers and phones used by parents, adding that information will be transmitted using that medium. 

She further noted that assessments will be undertaken at the school level by the respective principals.

Meanwhile, Principal of Muschett High School in Trelawny, Leighton Johnson, says his school is ready.

“Currently we are experimenting with different online assessment tools. An assessment can be posted online and students can access it from anywhere possible. Our teachers are trained in using online platforms to make learning more interesting and accessible to students,” he said.

When asked how students without smartphones and laptops will access the information, Johnson said, “We would arrange drop boxes within their communities where worksheets would be left for them to collect and completed within a specific timeframe, and students would be required to return completed worksheets to the assigned drop boxes.”

Onome Sido