Massive failure of education system

THE EDITOR: I’m dreadfully alarmed that there are some 50,000 primary and secondary students who have been unable to access remote learning during the past year of lockdown. This is approximately 23 per cent of the estimated total of 216,000 students. This calculation is based on 18,000 pupils per year times 12 grades.

The follow-up questions are: How many primary and how many secondary pupils? How many at each grade level? Which schools are being affected? What are the numbers for those without devices or lack of internet access through Wi-Fi or otherwise? Exact numbers. How can we even try to plan a response to this crisis without numbers? Does each principal and teacher know which of their students are at this gross disadvantage?

I know there was a plan to produce packages with learning materials for parents to collect. How does this help with parents who are at work, and even if they are home they do not have the educational and/or emotional skills to teach their children. This leaves a lot of children at wit’s end.

Is anyone keeping track of which students are managing and those who simply can’t keep up? What is the feedback from the parents and teachers and who exactly is keeping score?

This brings up the questions: How do the teachers manage these students when classes resume? Educationally, where are they now? Have these students given up? Are they even now sitting at home in despair? Have they gone out to “make a wuk?” Selling on the side of the road, maybe? This is a massive failure of our education system. How will we recover? Surely it’s a moral crime to seat together educationally disadvantaged students and those who had online access for the last year.

The school system graduates 18,000 students annually. The previously mentioned number of 50,000 represents two to three years of learning. How do we recover? Did this Minister of Education produce a plan? If so, perhaps the newspapers should print it for readers to see. Have there been meetings with parents, principals and teachers? If not, when is this planned?

We have so many experts in this country. Maybe the minister should convene a panel of all who could “donate” their expertise. Have all-inclusive discussions which would put parents, students and principals on the same page. Do not limit the talks to stopping the SEA. Because each region has specific needs, detailed working discussions should be by region and not centralised.

The Government thought that purchasing 18,000 laptops or devices every year was a waste of money. Is it happy now? The Education Minister goes to the corporate community to “beg” for contributions. Remember when Jack Warner asked contractors to assist with road repairs at a time when there was a great need? There were a lot of comments that this would be considered bribery and would encourage a conflict of interest. How about now?

ANNE DE SILVA

St Joseph