Bridging the digital divide: Education in age of COVID-19

Goal 1 of Jamaica's Vision 2030 development plan speaks to Jamaicans being empowered to achieve their fullest potential. Under this goal, one of the national outcomes is listed as “World-Class Education and Training” and that “Vision 2030 Jamaica recognizes the need for every Jamaican child to have access to education to the level that enables him/her to access further education, training and/or decent work.” These can be logically assumed to fit in with strategic objective #2 of the current education framework which says “Secure teaching and learning opportunities that will optimize access, equity and relevance throughout the education system.”

Even with this, hundreds of thousands of students remain without proper access to basic amenities that would have been necessary to ensure this equity even if COVID-19 didn't happen. What do we need to do to ensure access is sustainable should we have another disaster that will force us to do most of our business from home.