Approximately 73 per cent of the 120,000 Jamaican students who were not showing up online, or using any of the other modalities provided for their education during the COVID-19 pandemic, have reportedly been reengaged after a three-month, $100-million effort from the Ministry of Education and Youth.

Making her contribution to the 2022-2023 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (April 12), Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams said that, prior to returning the country’s students to full face-to-face classes in March, the ministry launched its Yard-to-Yard Find the Child Initiative which engaged 108 social workers and 580 HOPE students at a cost of $103 million for the three-month period.

ORDINARY JAMAICANS JOINED EFFORTS TO RE-ENGAGE STUDENTS

“Added to this initiative were the efforts of 928 guidance counsellors and our 177 deans of discipline for a total of 1,793 persons,” Williams told members in the House.

“Add to this, the many principals, teachers and administrators and ordinary Jamaicans who joined the
effort and reached out to parents and community members to re-engage our students in the face-to-face setting.”

The minister provided data for the weeks between February 14 and April 1, which showed unaccounted-for-students ranging from a high of 41,048 in the week of February 14 – 18 to a low of 25,521 in the week
of February 21 – 25.

“Using a weekly average of 32,554 unaccounted-for-students over the period February 14 to April 1 shows that we have been able to reengage approximately 87,446 of the 120,000 students we had indicated were not accounted for during the pandemic,” Williams said as she gave the ministry’s commitment to locating all of the country’s students.

CALL 211 TO REPORT STUDENTS NOT IN SCHOOL

“Our deans of discipline and our guidance officers will specifically redouble their efforts,” she added.

“We also call on all Jamaicans. You know these children in your communities that are not attending school. Call us at 211. Our internal officers will visit homes to understand the issues why the children are not in school. Together with our Child Protection and Family Services Agency and with the help of other sister ministries, we commit to doing all we can to help the situations in the homes and get all our students in schools and learning again.

“Like the shepherd in Matthews 18 verse 12, we, the Ministry of Education and Youth, must go to look for even that one that wandered off. We are not willing that any of these little ones should perish.”