MONTEGO BAY, St James — Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President Winston Smith has asked for further private sector assistance with the donation of tablets and other tools to aid online teaching and learning as schools prepare to start the new academic year.

With uncertainty surrounding the resumption of face-to-face classes in the wake of the third wave of COVID-19 cases, Smith stressed the importance to the education sector of all hands being on deck to provide support with devices and connectivity.

“I am of the view that if the media, the public, and the private sector had really coalesced around this common issue called education from as far back as 2020 when it [novel coronavirus] came out in a full way, we would be better off today. Companies can more than afford to donate some tablets and some laptops to schools and let the children have devices so that we can help each other out of a crisis,” Smith told the Jamaica Observer in a telephone interview.

“I would appreciate it if private sector enterprises could avail their Wi-Fi in communities that students can draw nigh. So, instead of locking the Wi-Fi, at times leave it open so that children can draw nigh and use, or give to some schools’ support [system] to facilitate the children going online, provide laptops and tablets, and so forth, to donate to the children,” he suggested.

The new JTA boss contended that in light of the tight fiscal constraints facing the country, the Ministry of Education is doing credibly, but needs the assistance of more individuals and companies in support of the sector.

Last year, the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Information officially launched its ‘One Laptop or Tablet Per Child’ initiative, which was designed to promote inclusivity in the education sector, providing needy students with the requisite tools to function in the online teaching and learning environment.

Earlier this month, Latoya Harris, director of donor and partnership management at the National Education Trust, indicated that the initiative had so far yielded 20 per cent of its 100,000 target.

Meanwhile, the JTA president urged teachers to get vaccinated and adhere to COVID-19 protocols.

“My position on the matter [of vaccination] has always been and will remain until I see other more extenuating circumstances to change that. At the JTA we are encouraging our teachers to get vaccinated, practise social distancing where possible, wear masks, sanitise and just be socially and professionally responsible,” said Smith.

“We have to look at what is the greater good of the country. If we go back to face-to-face, based on those who have been vaccinated and the safety precautions, and if when we do that and we realise that we cannot continue, at least we would have tried. And then we can revert to something else,” he said.

At the same time, Smith said the JTA would continue to support teachers who are not vaccinated, adding that he was not in support of mandatory vaccination of the educators.

“… I have said to the teachers who refuse to take it, you have the full support of the JTA, but on the other hand we are encouraging teachers to take it because we have the interest of the nation’s children at heart and a return to some semblance of… I don’t want to say normalcy, because normalcy is a far-fetched thing right now,” Smith argued.