St Martin’s Secondary School leading the way

EDITOR: I am writing as a concerned parent who has sons, nieces and nephews in different secondary schools throughout St. Vincent and the Grenadines. I currently have a son in Grammar School, a niece at Girls’ High School and my stepson is at St. Martin’s Secondary and all at the form 5 CSEC level. Seeing that we are in the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the burning questions that was on my mind was “What about the continuity of the children’s education?”

Having a bit of Information Technology knowledge I must say congratulations to St. Martin’s Secondary School for being one of, if not the only secondary school, to have successfully moved their classrooms online. I did not know that they had such an ambitious project being developed. I was shocked when I heard my stepson answering to his teacher on his computer in the living room about 8:20 a.m. I had to inquire more about what he was doing. St. Martin’s Secondary is currently operating at a university level, because what they are doing is exactly the manner in which I was taught at the University of the West Indies Open Campus.

My stepson proceeded to show me his holiday time table, with hourly teaching slots of different subject areas, which took effect from the first day they were sent home. He has a 15-minute break and an hour lunch, just like a regular day at school. After seeing what he is doing I have to wonder what is happening in the other schools?

From observing, how the sessions are being conducted, I noticed that a teacher is present, other students and also the principal was present in his online class. He was informed by the classroom teacher that they (including the principal) can check on their work, grades, assignments and attendance.

While on the other hand, from my inquiries, the other students are at home with links to visit websites that are unmonitored and without proper guidance. I know that some would say that St. Martin’s Secondary is semi-private or private and would state that they have the money to afford such a tool at their disposal, but the questions I have are:

What are the schools, or for that matter, the Ministry of Education doing other than referring to various web pages?

What are the plans that they have in place?

Do they have a plan on how long before the other schools are up to St. Martin’s Secondary Level?

I don’t want the teachers at St. Martin’s to be upset, but when your sessions start, everyone is ready. My son, stepson and my niece sit there with your class being displayed on the television. I would like to say thank you to the Principal and staff of St. Martin’s Secondary for leading the way and being there for our children’s educational needs during this time of uncertainty. I do hope that the powers that be can use you as an example to get their institution on board the technology bandwagon.

Concerned Parent