Caribbean Studies Internal

Assessment

Name: Tyrick Minott

Centre Number:

Registration Number:

School: Annotto Bay High School

Topic: To what extent does Covid 19 affects the educational achievement of Annotto Bay

High sixth form students?

Territory: Jamaica

Year of Examination: 2022

 Acknowledgement

The successful completion of this study would not have been possible without the assistance and
cooperation of several people. Hence, I would like to thank God for the endurance, patience, and life I
would also like to thank the students of the Annotto Bay High sixth form for their support and time given
to complete each activity that was given.
Friends and members of my family have been a constant support of encouragement and assistance. I
thank my friends Mello and Sharika for the motivation which push me forward and made my mindset on
the IA and also for assisting me throughout the IA. I give a special thanks to my mom, sister, and
stepfather for providing the resources necessary for this assessment.
Lastly, I express my greatest gratitude to my teacher who guided me every step of the way with this
assessment.

Introduction
Relevance of the Topic
Corona Virus (COVID19) has become a wide-scale problem globally almost in every country
in the world. It first case reach Jamaica by a female national who was returning from the
United Kingdom on March 4, 2020, and that one case increased to the 127k that we have
today. Over the past year and 11 months not only did COVID19 kill thousands of people it
also caused Jamaica's Economy to decline, by affecting various sectors such as Agriculture,
Manufacturing, Tourism, and Education. Corona Virus is damaging the education system and
this will have a long-lasting effect on our children this research will shed light on how the
corona is negatively affecting the education of students which may push individuals to take
the vaccine so everything can go to normality.

Problem Statement
The title of the study is “To what extent does COVID19 affect the educational achievement
of Annotto Bay High sixth form students?” Annotto Bay high is located in Iter Boreale St.
Mary. It first opens its doors on September 3, 2001, to 275 students with Mr. Lambert
Robinson as principal. There were 7 administrative, 14 teachers, and 12 Ancillary
employees. The school was officially opened on October 19, 2001, by Prime Minister Hon.
P.J. Patterson. There is a decline in CXC passes from 84% to 73% in 2021 in Jamaica that’s
how much the education has been affected by this diseases and it can be seen inside the
school of research Annotto Bay High this research will shed some light on why the academic
rates are dropping, how have COVID19 been affected our students, reason why COVID19
have such an effect on the school and what solutions have been implemented to help solve the
issue.

Educational Value
This study can be seen as one to educated persons, especially parents who have child/
children who attend the Annotto Bay high school sixth form program on how COVID19 is
affecting their children. This research can also be used for people who want general
knowledge on how the education system is being affected by the virus. My research will there
benefit students, teachers, parents, etc. by giving the incite about the issue and can use this
information to decide on what measures can be put in place by the school and what measures
parents can take to ensure that the children can attain education in the safest possible way.

Definition of key Terms:

 Corona virus- Corona viruses are a family of viruses that can cause respiratory illness
in humans. They are called “corona” because of crown-like spikes on the surface of
the virus. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory
syndrome (MERS) and the common cold are examples of coronaviruses that cause
illness in humans.

 Literature Review
According to who.int Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease
caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Most people infected with the virus will experience mild
to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment. However,
some will become seriously ill and require medical attention. Older people and those with
underlying medical conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory
disease, or cancer are more likely to develop serious illnesses. Anyone can get sick with
COVID-19 and become seriously ill or die at any age. It is stated that the best way to slow the
spread of the diseases is staying at least 1 meter apart from others, wearing a mask and
washing your hands frequently, or using an alcohol based-rub. The virus can spread to an
infected person’s mouth or nose in small liquid particles when they cough, sneeze, speak,
sing or breathe. These particles range from larger respiratory droplets to smaller aerosols.

Jamcovid19 data chart shows the total number of corona cases in Jamaica is 12723
with 54269 being males and 72964 being females. Out of these numbers, 73688 have
recovered and 2750 had died it also shows that the younger population are the ones
contracting the disease and the older adults 65 years and older are the ones mostly dying from
the diseases which shows that when we do not protect ourselves we put our family members
at risk. 4211 of these cases is located in the parish of St. Mary with 110 deaths.

Based on a case study done by UNICEF titled “Lasting Impact” stated that
approximately 30 percent of children were not accessing remote learning, and this could be
due to children either not having the necessary access to the internet, a device to access the
internet, or both. This caused various measures to be put in places such as programs
broadcasted on radio and television, and printed packages that were left for collection at
schools or regional offices. The MOEYI also negotiated with telecommunications companies
to provide zero-rated learning sites to decrease the cost associated with connectivity to the
internet. The main reason for children not participating in distance learning among the
families with children at lower educational levels was that the facility was not provided by
their schools. On the other hand, respondents reported that their high scholars were not
engaged in distance learning mainly because they did not have a device or access to the
internet.
The lack of device and internet connectivity was also a reason for non-participation at
the primary level. This suggests that even where schools had the facility in place, for those
that used online as their main medium, it was not accessible for some students. Additionally,
despite zero-rated websites being available, those who saw a reduction in income may not be
able to afford the basic data package which allows them to make use of this facility. The
aforementioned reasons coupled with inadequate parental assistance at home with the actual
schoolwork might result in the widening of the education gap, especially for children in
economically vulnerable groups.
There may also be a decrease in school enrolment, and fewer individuals may return
to school when they do reopen, whether from fear that they have fallen too far behind or due
to parents’ inability to financially support their children’s education in a post-pandemic
world. If a decrease in enrolment occurs, there is likely to be a long-term impact in the
creation of a cohort of unskilled, uneducated individuals, which harms long-term growth and
development. Children who are marginalized are those at most risk of not returning to school
when they finally reopen. This includes children with disabilities, girls, struggling learners,
and those in rural and poor communities.

Data Collection
Research Design
This research project is applied and will be mostly take up a quantitative nature because it
employs the use if statistical based of data collection sources in order to investigate COVID
19 and its involvement in education. This study requires the use of quantitative mostly rather
than qualitative method as the researcher seeks to find out the extent to which COVID 19 as
affected the educational achievement of the Annotto Bay High Sixth form students. Thus,
data had to be collected from a number of sources so that a generalization can be made and
major trends can be found which can be used to compare with qualitative data which is
associated with in depth analysis of word.

Method of Data Collection

A structured questionnaire consisting of 15 questions was utilized as my primary sources of
data in order to extract relevant first-hand information from the research sample and make
accurate analysis and suggestions. The questionnaire consisted of both open- ended and
closed- ended questions. I choose this as it can be completed in and short amount of time and
also at the respondent convenience, because of the COVID 19 situation I had to post the
questionnaire through email to each individual so the they could answers in an timely manner
this in return limit the spread of the COVID 19 be maximizing on the social distance and
physical interaction. The data from the questionnaire was easily analysed and treated with
confidentiality.

Selection of Sample Size