Private tertiary schools adjust to closure

Private tertiary institutions in TT have also been hit hard by the stay-at-home orders. Some institutions have moved smoothly to online classes, while others have experienced challenges in making the move.

Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business director of marketing Adi Montas said the school immediately transitioned all graduate and undergraduate classes online using both Blackboard Collaborate (BBC) and Zoom technologies.

She said that was because the school had already been using online technologies to deliver courses, conduct assessments and the posting of course content and documents. The indefinite extension of the closure of schools and universities has not limited the school’s capability to continue classes in the online environment.

Academic director Ron Sookram said 73 courses were conducted online between March 14 and April 19. Teaching for postgraduate courses ended on April 9 while the undergraduate programme completed classes on April 19.

Bachelor of International and Sustainable Business (BISB) student Nickolai Birjoo said the online learning experience had been an easily accessible way to stay on top of his education while there was no in-house option. He said the bridging of the online and offline gap had been continuous and he was able to work in a virtual class that was almost the same as a physical one.

He added the professors had not missed a step when issuing classwork and interacting with their students, making it easy to carry on with any given subject.

SBCS Global Learning Institute executive director Robin Maraj said many of the courses at the school had been seamlessly transitioned to online delivery. However, certain courses cannot be replicated virtually because they have an essential practical component.

Maraj said that had led to the suspension of courses such as electrical and mechanical engineering, electrical installation, air-conditioning and refrigeration, plumbing, automotive repairs, graphic design and others for an indeterminate period. That had affected the staff, lecturers and students attached to those programmes.

Maraj said, because the school offered international programmes, the beginning of semesters, examinations and closing dates of its programmes varied. He added delays in re-opening schools would have a greater effect on enrolment and students’ ability to progress.

The school’s ability to provide support resources as well as cater for staff and lecturers will be progressively compromised without revenue, Maraj said.

However, he added, while SBCS continues to offer students as complete an experience as possible using online delivery, it looks forward to a resumption of classes as soon as it is safe to do so.

On March 13, government announced that all places of learning inclusive of schools and universities were to be closed for one week in the first instance to slow the potential spread of covid19. Since then, Education Minister Anthony Garcia has announced that it is unlikely that schools would be re-opened before September.