Principal uses motorbike to reach absent students

A firm believer in the adage that every child can learn and every child must learn, principal of the White Marl Primary School in St Catherine Milton C. Brown has started travelling by motorcycle to find his students who are not attending online classes.

Brown recently purchased the motorcycle which he calls the 'Ministry Machine', and is set on visiting the homes of the students who he refers to as his 'Gifted Excellent Masterpieces (GEMS). Once he locates them, he then sees how best he can assist them to get logged on.

Speaking with THE STAR yesterday, the educator said the focus of this initiative is to prevent any of his students from falling behind in their academics. Brown made his first set of trips last Friday.

"The outreach is actually a search and rescue activity that has to do with our promise to our parents. We have had meetings with all grade levels reminding parents that we are coming to find our gems because they will not be left behind. That was a commitment that we gave and the vision is to have all of them exposed and given the best chance possible at succeeding academically," he said.

"The school is in the Central Village area which consists of about eight sub-communities. We have some parts where we have to be cautious because of the violence there but we are going wherever our gems are. Some of the students live in informal settlements, no roads and just zinc and boards and it is the Ministry Machine that is going to get us in these nooks and crannies," he added.

The education ministry estimates that 120,000 students were unable to take up online instruction for one or more reasons in the last academic year, including not having an electronic device or Internet access to attend classes since the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools in March 2020.

Almost 300 students are currently enrolled at White Marl, and Brown says the numbers continue to grow as the registration process continues. He stated that after the deadly COVID-19 virus halted face-to-face learning, only about 48 per cent of students were participating in online classes and other methods of teaching.

"We have been seeing an improvement with our engagement now as we are above 60 per cent. We are hoping to improve our numbers. We are trying to find our gems because that is what our students are. We have rebranded our school as we are trying to change the mentality of some of the persons in the community who do not see themselves as much before that. We are going to find all of our students that have been left behind last year," he said.

He said the purchasing of the motor cycle was made possible through contributions from a number of good Samaritans.

"I shared the vision with them (Samaritans) and they really took on to the idea so I am really grateful," he said, noting that the bike was named the Ministry Machine for two reasons.

"It's not just for the education ministry but ministry in terms of service to God. We are not stopping until all of our children are engaged," he said.