KINGSTON, Jamaica— Education, Youth and Information Minister, Fayval Williams, says children who have not been able to consistently engage with the education system’s online learning environment, will be targeted for in-person learning, under the Ministry’s National Summer School.

The initiative seeks to engage students in both face- to- face and online learning modalities.

More than 43,000 students are participating in the National Summer School Programme. Of that number, 16,530 students are engaged in face-to-face classes and some 27,000 are benefiting from online sessions.

Williams told JIS News that the first week of the national summer school went well, with parents requesting more hours for face- to- face sessions.

“We are excited that we have been able to help those students who have not been actively engaged in particular, to help to restore them and get them back in the mode again in terms of education. For the face to face, we want to prioritize those students who have not been able to be online consistently… to get the teaching and learning experience,” she said.

The National Summer School Programme forms part of the Recover Smarter – National School Learning and Intervention Plan (NSLIP) aimed at helping students to recover from learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the initiative, students from grades one to 11 can access teaching and learning focused on the core subject areas such as mathematics, English language, social studies and science.

Meanwhile, tablet computers were handed over to students of Angels Primary, Ensom City Primary and Eltham Park Primary schools on Friday (July 9). The handover ceremony was held at the Eltham Park Primary School, in St Catherine.  

To date, Angels Primary has received a total of 103 tablets, Ensom City Primary, 176 and Eltham Park Primary 209 devices under the Ministry’s Tablets in Schools Programme, through implementing agency, e- Learning Jamaica (e-LJam).

For her part, Member of Parliament for St Catherine Central and Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange said it is critical that all children, no matter their social status, be provided with the tools needed to navigate their way to education and success.

“They need the help that will enable them to navigate the online world, so they are not left behind,” she said.

As of the end of the school year, more than 125,000 tablets would have been issued to students under the Government’s Tablets in Schools Programme.

JIS