Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly says one of the ministry’s main focus has been to organise digital education in preparation for the 2021/2022 academic year.

She was speaking at the virtual 65th annual Canto conference on Wednesday.

Gadsby-Dolly said the ministry is focusing on organising digital education to ensure the data needed to monitor students and educational professionals is collected efficiently.

“Who knows what 2022 will bring?” she asked.

“There is the possibility that students cannot be in school physically.”

The Prime Minister said he is hoping students can return to the physical classroom in September, but students' return would be dependant on covid19 numbers at the time.

“If we organise the system, then regardless of digital or face-to-face learning, we can ensure a standard of education optimised to deliver education for students (and) make the online teaching much more rewarding.

Gadsby-Dolly said the online environment has been difficult for everyone including students, parents, teachers and education stakeholders.

“It’s been challenging to reach out to vulnerable groups.”

She said while the online system has not been perfect, more is being done to reach students who were affected.

The minister said, in the shift to the virtual environment, those who were vulnerable because of socio-economic status and those who required special-needs assistance were most affected.

Gadsby-Dolly said early in the pandemic, devices were donated to special-needs schools to try to mitigate learning loss.

She said the ministry also took the decision to make material available on multiple platforms including television, radio and print.

“It opened the possibility to those who were unable to log in, (so they) would still have access to material.”

However, she said some students, even with devices and connectivity, struggled with the transition.

“Students benefitted from student support services that we had online to make the transition easier.”

Administrators, she said, also used counseling services as the change was also difficult for them.

“(Virtual classes) are not at all a perfect substitute for the teaching classroom, but it afforded (students) a chance while the ministry worked to get them devices.

“As a parent, we have to have faith that our children have more resilience than we think. Parents, take heart. Your sacrifice has not gone unnoticed. From the ministry’s side, we are doing the best that we can.”