.png)
Report by Earl Moxam
It has been a year of pain and sorrow for many Jamaicans who have suffered the impact of COVID-19 through personal illness or the loss of loved ones.
But it has also affected their daily lives in other ways.
David Wan, President of the Jamaica Employers Federation, says some jobs have easily transitioned into the remote work model, “such as lawyers, architects, engineers, designers, those that operate from so to speak, intellectual property of themselves."
The government recently mandated work from home for most public sector employees and recommended the same for the private sector, where feasible, for the time being.
But Mr. Wan says that works for only a small part of the workforce.
"We estimate that about 74% of the 1.2 million workers in Jamaica are not able to work remotely, so that 26 per cent is our estimate that are easily able to work remotely, so we don't see a significant change for those persons. That's 74%.”
A chief reason for that is the nature of particular jobs. But there's also the matter of access to appropriate technology for some people.
“Specifically, those who have access to high speed, reliable internet, devices, software, and an environment to make use of it, and those who have not had that kind of access,” observed by Carlette Deleon, host of Radio Jamaica's Tech for Life.
The president of the Jamaica Teachers Association, Jasford Gabriel, said the pandemic has had the greatest impact on education worldwide, with the negative consequences evident right here in Jamaica.
“The biggest challenge we will have is the learning loss. A recent survey that we conducted is indicating that one out of every two students is having any sort of consistent interaction and engagement since we have been treating with the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Technological innovation in response to the pandemic brings another set of issues in education, according to Mr. Gabriel.
These, he pointed out, include “mental health and wellness issues with our students and our teachers."
"I don't think many of us can appreciate the tremendous challenge that all teachers have teaching in the online space. The screen hours are long, it takes a lot of toll in terms of the eyes and the back.”
He believes the setback to student learning can be overcome fairly quickly, though, with the right mix of interventions.
Above all, however, Carlette Deleon, who is a keen advocate of advanced technology, is urging against losing our common humanity in this era of fast-moving change.
“We weren't built as human beings to be remote, we have to find ways to ensure that we do not allow technology to take over. Humans need to interact on a very personal level in order to thrive and in order to be comforted.”
comments powered by Disqus
.jpg)
All feeds
