Access to education in a time of pan(dem)ic in Jamaica: Rural & urban primary schools’ experience

Abstract

This document reports the activities and findings of a project, funded by BERA’s small grants fund for research into the impact of Covid-19, that explored students’ experiences of accessing education in rural and urban primary (K-6) schools in Jamaica during the pandemic. This research explored the following three questions. To what extent has Covid-19 impacted access to continued education in the primary schools under investigation? How have state interventions facilitated continued education during the Covid-19 crisis? To what extent did the findings of the project’s second, qualitative phase converge with those of its first, quantitative phase? Sequential mixed-methods design was used for data collection and analysis, with participants selected using purposeful sampling. All ethical considerations were engaged with for this research. A disparity was found between students in rural and urban communities in terms of their ability to access online education, due to various challenges related to technology, including the affordability of data and devices.