KINGSTON, Jamaica— Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Karl Samuda is thanking teachers, school administrators and other partners for collaborating with the Government to allow the provision of educational content to students in their homes following the recent closure of schools for 14 days.

“Students now have access to the necessary educational resources to continue their learning despite schools being closed. Without your assistance, we would not have been able to provide our students with these resources in such a timely and accessible way,” Samuda said in a statement today.

The Education Ministry said it facilitated the training of over 180 teachers last weekend, which has enabled them to deliver lessons to students through the web-based One-on-One Communication Learning Management System.  The Ministry said it has also partnered with several educational providers to provide content for students up to Grade 9. Parents and students will have access to content from Book Fusion, Learning Hub, EduFocal and CHEETAH free of cost through the Ministry’s website for the two weeks that schools are closed.

Secondary level institutions with virtual schools and School Management Systems have set up online classrooms to engage their students, the Ministry said. School leaders have also created online spaces to facilitate communication and the sharing of learning materials including those for students preparing for exit exams.

According to the Ministry, starting today (Wednesday, March 18) parents and students will be able to view educational content on the PBCJ channel, which can be accessed through 25 local cable providers. The programmes will air Mondays to Fridays from 7:30 am to 10 am and 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm with rebroadcasts on the weekends.

A schedule with the programming has been prepared and shared with all schools.  The schedule will also be shared via social media and posted on the Ministry’s website.

In the meantime, the Ministry said that it has made educational resources available to students up to Grade 13 and a detailed list of online/digital learning resources has been compiled and shared with all schools for students from Kindergarten to Grade 13.