Tobago students using cellphones for online classes

THE majority of Tobago students are using cellphones and not laptops or tablets to access online teaching platforms, Secretary for Education, Innovation and Energy Kelvin Charles has revealed.

Addressing the post-executive council media conference on Wednesday at the Victor E Bruce Financial Complex, Scarborough, Charles said an assessment of the number of students who do not have laptops and tablets to access the online curriculum is still being done.

However, he said an early analysis revealed many students are using smartphones to access classes.

“What the analysis indicates is that a number of those students with devices are, in fact, using their cellphones or their parents' cellphones,” he said.

Charles said the assessment will inform the THA executive council’s policy for the distribution of laptops and tablets to students who cannot afford to buy the devices.

“I have asked and we are collating that information in respect of those who are using cellphones...because we would want to ensure at the end of the day that there is a certain degree of equity in respect of those who can access these devices and access the online learning.”

Charles said the assessment also revealed that the “vast majority” of the island’s students are accessing the online curriculum.

“The challenge, however, as I see it, is the amount of time they are engaged productively online, particularly in relation to the use of these devices. Because for those who may be using their parents' cellphones, when the parents wish to use their cellphones, what happens? That is part of the challenge.”

Charles claimed students using printed material for their classes are in the minority.

“We do have some students who are tutored via the packages and those are not very many, it would appear, given the data that has been presented to me so far.”

At the launch of the online curriculum on September 14, the education division and TTUTA’s Tobago arm offered different views about its execution.

The education division described online teaching as “exceeding our expectations,” but TTUTA Tobago officer Bradon Roberts said his cellphone was inundated with calls from parents and teachers about the challenges they encountered.

He said the feedback he received revealed problems with low internet connectivity and poor classroom management, among other issues.

At last Friday’s plenary sitting in the Assembly Legislature, Charles, moving a motion on providing digital devices, claimed students who do not have access to laptops and internet connectivity are in the minority.

“In fact, Mr Deputy Presiding Officer (Shomari Hector), things are looking brighter and brighter each day,” Charles said then.