Ministry pledges more study material for students nationwide

More print material for students to study and continue learning from home will be available nationwide in the new month.

“We heard you. We heard when you said you wanted us to give your children worksheets here on the coast. We believe it is a useful way of engaging children and a more comprehensive and sure way of engaging children,” Minister of Education Priya Manickchand explained in a video statement on Tuesday.

According to Manickchand they will be on stream in the “next two weeks”. Worksheets had previously been made available at schools and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDC) offices from September 28.

On September 25, Manickchand told reporters that the worksheets would be distributed on that day and could be uplifted from the various NDCs and schools across the country that Monday.

This study material is intended to help ensure that students stay on track with the curriculum for their respective grades as part of the blended approach to make sure every student continues learning while keeping schools closed.

As of September 14th, schools were reopened via online platforms along with the use of radio and television broadcasts, after being closed since March due to COVID- 19 restrictions. However, for those students who are not able to access these platforms, particularly those in the hinterland and rural communities, the ministry promised to have print material delivered to their areas.

The minister noted that the printed material consists of both worksheets and notes for the four core subjects: Mathematics, English, Science and Social Studies for grades 1 to 9, while grades 10, 11, and tertiary level will have additional subjects. Pre-school and nursery level students will be given equipment packages. Those packages are still being set up and will be delivered to the students in the weeks to come.

At the time the ministry expressed the hope that parents will take up the responsibility of ensuring that their children attend their online classes, tune in to the various programmes set up for the different classes, and do their worksheets and have them sent to their teachers for marking.

Additionally, Manickchand noted that the Learning Channel has been revamped and the radio broadcasts and newspapers have come onboard to print past papers. She said that currently the ministry is hoping to minimise the learning loss and while it’s aware that much time has already been lost, it’s not possible to accurately know what students know and what they don’t, as no diagnostic test could be done due to the COVID-19 restrictions.