MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Member of Parliament for Manchester Southern Robert Chin is insisting that the Government’s target of equipping each constituency with three Wi-Fi hot spots is not enough.

Chin, a member of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party, told the Jamaica Observer on Monday that about 80 districts are without adequate Internet and phone reception in the constituency. He listed Victoria Town, Harmons, Grove Town, Pratville, Marlie Hill, and Plowden among the districts affected.

Children from these areas, Chin pointed out, experienced poor Internet connectivity during the time that schools turned to online learning due to the novel coronaviorus pandemic.

Further, he said while the Government has mandated a return to face-to-face classes in primary and secondary schools, some are facilitating students on a rotational basis, which means the children are still dependent on online learning.

“For the almost two years that we have been going through this pandemic, 30 per cent of our students have been connected [which] means 70 per cent are not,” Chin said at last week’s launch of a Wi-Fi hot spot in Alligator Pond.

He said the service will increase the career and educational opportunities for students.

“South Manchester is not a community where we have excellent academics, so when we have a lawyer or a doctor coming [from the area] that is the exception and not the norm, and when we are denying our students of this kind of education, we are putting them at a disadvantage. With this public Wi-Fi, it is my hope and belief that we have saved the next lawyer, doctor, or even the next prime minister,” he said.

He added that there are still challenges facing the communities despite his best efforts to provide devices for students.

“The challenges that are there, although I have provided probably over 1,000 tablets [and] laptops, it is just not enough. We have a twofold problem. We have the device. Some have the connectivity and to get the device and the connectivity is really a challenge,” he added.

He said parents have reached out to him asking for assistance to purchase mobile data plans to benefit their children.

“We have parents who call me from time to time, telling me that they need some data on their phone. It is really heart-wrenching to know that parents, who are finding it difficult as it is to provide food [and] basic necessities, [they] now have to be contemplating how to get data on their phones so that their children can go to classes, so that they can learn,” he said.

He is urging residents and community leaders to make good use of the Internet connectivity.

“Let us be the forerunners. Let us take advantage of this information and technology era. Let us use it to our advantage,” he said.

“I remember going to the library [but] now information is at your fingertips; anything you want we can have it,” he added.

Chin commended the Universal Service Fund for the initiative.

“This is one of the most joyous moments for me since being MP. It is good that the USF, through the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, would have put together a programme to provide public Wi-Fi for communities across Jamaica,” he said.

He added: “We are pleased to have received three [Wi-Fi] hot spots. We see it as a start, because we definitely need more than three… We are in some deep, remote parts of Jamaica and the service providers, Flow and Digicel, have not reached these areas as yet.”