Research Article
Access to Education in Rural and Urban Primary (K-6) Schools in Jamaica during COVID-19
Olivene Burke
,
Vanessa Ellis Colley,
Tenneisha Nelson
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Burke O, Colley VE, Nelson T. Access to education in rural and urban primary (K-6) schools in Jamaica during COVID-19. European J Ed Manage. 2022;5(2):143-155. doi: 10.12973/eujem.5.2.143
Burke, O., Colley, V. E., & Nelson, T. (2022). Access to education in rural and urban primary (K-6) schools in Jamaica during COVID-19. European Journal of Educational Management, 5(2), 143-155. https://doi.org/10.12973/eujem.5.2.143
Burke Olivene, Vanessa Ellis Colley, and Tenneisha Nelson. "Access to Education in Rural and Urban Primary (K-6) Schools in Jamaica during COVID-19," European Journal of Educational Management 5, no. 2 (2022): 143-155. https://doi.org/10.12973/eujem.5.2.143
Burke, O Colley, VE & Nelson, 2022, 'Access to education in rural and urban primary (K-6) schools in Jamaica during COVID-19', European Journal of Educational Management, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 143-155. Burke, Olivene et al. "Access to Education in Rural and Urban Primary (K-6) Schools in Jamaica during COVID-19." European Journal of Educational Management, vol. 5, no. 2, 2022, pp. 143-155, https://doi.org/10.12973/eujem.5.2.143.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic imposed a paradigm shift on education delivery worldwide. In response to the pandemic, the government of Jamaica mobilised strategies to ensure that the nation was protected while continuing the education of the nation's children. One of the strategies was to implement remote teaching and learning. Online teaching and learning created challenges, especially for students from rural and marginalised communities. This research explored the experiences of accessing education in Jamaica's rural and urban primary (K-6) schools during the pandemic. Researchers aimed to answer the questions: To what extent has COVID-19 impacted access to continued education in your school? (b) How has the state's intervention facilitated continued education during COVID-19? (c) To what extent do the qualitative findings converge with the quantitative results? Mixed-method research was employed for data collection and analysis. Purposeful sampling was used to select principals, teachers, and parents for this study. The findings of the study provided insights into how COVID-19 affected students' access and, the effectiveness of the government's response to continuing education online. Participants' contributions informed recommendations to the government on students' access to education during the onset of the pandemic in 2020, for the periods March to July and September to December.
Keywords: Access to education, COVID-19, Jamaica; rural and urban primary schools.
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