Digital divide affecting rural Jamaica

THE EDITOR, Madam:

ON SATURDAY, June 13, The Gleaner published a piece that has weighed heavily on my heart. ‘What about us? – Principal, parent say children missing out on education in Bog Hole’ chronicles some of the challenges that a number of Clarendon residents have had with online schooling.

According to Diondra Rose, principal of Anderson Town Basic School, since the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting school closures, she has not been able to consistently facilitate her students online.

Another resident, Dinieca Copeland, also explained that her three children have not been able to join their schools’ online classes. Both residents blame the poor, in-area Internet connection for their trouble.

I grew up in Rose’s and Copeland’s community, so I can personally attest to the challenges they described.

The Internet is most inconsistent and has been so for years. The mobile data is unreliable, as cellular reception, too, is sometimes poor. On several occasions, while visiting, I had to remain fixed in uncomfortable positions and spaces to make or receive a phone call.

Weak television signals, particularly when it rains, add to the existing woes. There is no longer a cable provider in the area, so access to broadcast media is limited.

Thankfully, radio signals are good, but certainly inadequate for wide-scale information access.

Altogether, apart from home constructions, expansions, and renovations, our community has not advanced much over the years. We are digital laggards!

It is, therefore, no great wonder why residents who leave for tertiary studies often do not return, except to visit.

We have to address this stagnation and mend the infrastructural disparity from which it stems. Otherwise, youth drain will increase, and so, too, will rural impoverishment.

Understandably, the countryside’s topography can hinder or limit utility developments. Still, the Government and our network providers must be creative.

Country people truly deserve to have their communities outfitted with the digital amenities enjoyed in the metropolis.

Let us end the digital divide, our children deserve better.