KINGSTON, Jamaica — Chris Dehring, co-CEO of Ready Communications Ltd, is calling for a permanent, nationally televised school system which he says will “allow every Jamaican child an equal opportunity to learn, develop and grow”.

In a statement today, Dehring said this is the most affordable and immediately available solution to address both the current COVID-19 crisis, but also the already existing inequities in the education system.

“There was a crisis in education even before COVID-19 with unacceptable results in mathematics and language arts in particular,” he noted.

“Yet there was a single class at St Georges College where all 25 students passed their CXC mathematics exams with ones. We need to televise those lessons so that all Jamaican children and their teachers can profit.”

Dehring, in his statement, also noted that “the pandemic exacerbated the crisis and with school now strictly online, the fortunate few with 24/7 Internet connectivity will continue to get ahead, while the vast majority will continue to lag.

“The government’s intention to digitise our society is both commendable and needed. But to continue to focus on Internet-based platforms will continue to leave the largest segment of our society behind. It took 35 years to get to 35 per cent fixed internet penetration, predominantly in urban areas. How long and at what cost will it take to double that penetration, moreso in rural and inner-city areas which remain the most deprived?”

The CEO also noted that the use of mobile data for constant connectivity presents both affordability and capacity limitations.

“In the meantime, 91 per cent of households have a TV set which doesn’t need the internet. TV is the low hanging fruit we need to be harvesting now like every developed and developing country is doing,” he said.

He pointed out that in Mexico, all 30 million students were now attending school via their TV sets at home. Having successfully completed their Digital Switchover (DSO) in December 2015, the Mexican government had multiple digital free-to-air (FTA) TV channels to utilise.

“Jamaica’s DSO has been perennially delayed, resulting in only two analog FTA channels available, TVJ and CVMTV, with the 3rd FTA broadcaster, LOVE TV, stymied by the delays in the DSO to recommence an over the air service,” Dehring said.

“Notwithstanding, continued delays in Jamaica’s DSO, a digital broadcast network already exists which can serve the nation in its hour of need. We have proposed for the Government to take over one of our transmitters and multiplexes and create a dedicated suite of digital educational TV channels and make them available to every child for free on their TV sets. And it wouldn’t have to be just primary and high school. Universities and vocational training institutions like Heart/NTA should also be able to utilise the available channels with tertiary, vocational and adult educational classes. Most significantly, zero data costs would be incurred by students to receive thousands of hours of digital educational content every month on their TVs,” Dehring said.