Hard lesson for teachers as power, data costs skyrocket

WESTERN BUREAU: PUBLIC-SCHOOL TEACHERS are demanding reimbursement for hikes in their electricity bills and Internet costs related to hours-long online classes after schools were shuttered three days after the outbreak of COVID-19 in Jamaica on March 10.

Some teachers have reported that their electricity bills have gone up by 30-50 per cent, a claim that has been corroborated by power supplier, the Jamaica Public Service Company.

The closure of all infant, primary and secondary schools, as well as teachers’ colleges, has opened the horizons for mass reliance on virtual teaching. Universities have also logged on to full online classes.

“The devices being used by teachers, they are up and running for an excessive number of hours per day. That has forced some people’s light bill upwards ... over the past five weeks,” said Owen Speid, president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA).

Speid told The Gleaner that with virtual distance teaching and learning set to resume or be expanded on April 22, teachers were wary of the prolonged delay in making refunds.

PERSONAL RESERVES

The JTA boss said that teachers were constantly digging into their personal reserves to fund Internet connectivity to deliver lessons remotely, even as their power costs have rapidly risen.

“It is disturbing to many of them because the ministry [of Education, Youth of and Information] has promised that they would reimburse the teachers for buying Internet data,” Speid said.

JPS last night reported an overall decline in electricity consumption by approximately 2.5 per cent for March, but said residential usage had risen by about three per cent since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

The utility provider attributed the uptick in usage to increased work-from-home and homeschooling arrangements.

“In fact, there are instances where residential customers have increased their electricity consumption varying from five to 50 per cent,” said Audrey Williams, JPS’s media and public relations manager.

The power company also advised that Jamaicans would reap limited gains from plunging oil prices on the global market because the country has altered its energy mix.

Two-thirds of JPS’s fuel mix comprises liquefied natural gas – oil represents the other third – a paradigm shift from the 90 per cent oil dependence a few years ago.

“At this present time, LNG prices remain constant and higher than oil,” said Williams.

“Given this mix, the fall in oil prices will not register significantly on bills.”