UNICEF study shows students and teachers prefer return to classroom

The vast majority of students and teachers in eight Eastern Caribbean countries prefer a return to face-to-face classes, reveals a comprehensive study conducted by UNICEF across the subregion.

The study – which recorded the views of nearly 3,000 students, 554 teachers and 728 parents between November 2020 and February 2021 – showed there was a marked preference for face-to-face rather than online learning.  67 per cent of secondary and 65 per cent of primary students agreed that they preferred this kind of learning. Around 90 per cent of all students expressed satisfaction with in-person teaching, while 55 per cent of secondary students and 74 per cent of their primary counterparts felt the same about attending online classes.   

Most children – 77 per cent at the primary level and 68 per cent at the secondary level – said they felt safe attending face-to-face classes. Echoing their students’ experience, teachers at both levels favoured in-person lessons, with only a quarter preferring the virtual version. 68 per cent said their students were struggling in the online environment. The secondary school teachers, especially, reported that there were too may distractions at home which impacted on their students’ ability to focus.

The study, conducted by Exousia Consultancies and DB Research Services on behalf of UNICEF, also revealed that parents struggled in the virtual education environment, with many unable to supervise online tuition while at work.

When the new academic school year reopened, UNICEF supported ministries of education with communication messages to assist with the safe reopening of schools and students have taken COVID-19 messaging on board. Some 90 per cent reported seeing such messages and billboards at school.

Although admitting to some lapses in the following of several safety protocols, 88 per cent of primary students and three quarters of their secondary counterparts said their school provided clear information on how to protect themselves and others from contracting COVID-19.  Two thirds of students also reported that they did not find the protocols hard to follow.  

Dr Aloys Kamuragiye, UNICEF Representative for the Eastern Caribbean Area, said the study reinforced the importance of reopening schools safely. 

“I have said this before, and it bears repeating: governments need to make the safe reopening of schools a top priority. Without it, many of our children will be disadvantaged in ways critical to their development, learning, mental health, nutrition and their right to protection and equal opportunities,” he maintained. 

The survey was carried out with respondents from Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.