Cover Page Principles of Accounts Cognate School

Based Assessment

Name of group members: Keyano Brooks, Allex Frazier , Jaehime samms

Business Cognate subject: Principles of Accounts
School: Munro college
School code: 100082
Name of teacher: Audley Feare

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 Table of contents

Contents
Cover Page Principles of Accounts Cognate School Based Assessment..................................1
Table of contents..............................................................................................................................2
Objectives........................................................................................................................................3
Background......................................................................................................................................3
METHODOLOGY..........................................................................................................................4
Survey questions..............................................................................................................................5
Interview questions..........................................................................................................................6
Fig: 1................................................................................................................................................7
Fig: 2................................................................................................................................................8
Fig 3.................................................................................................................................................9
Fig 4...............................................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
Recommendation...........................................................................................................................12
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................13

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 Cover Page Principles of Accounts Cognate School
Based assetment

A study into the financial effects of online classes on

parents of grades 10 and 11 during the COVID –19
pandemic in the parish of ST. Elizabeth Jamaica.

Objectives

1. To find the average monthly percentage expense increase borne by parents in the
parish of ST. Elizabeth during the covid 19 pandemic.
2. Find out what factor contributed mostly to the increase in monthly expenses
during this period.

3. To determine measures that can reduce the costs of online classes on parents.

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 Background

The worldwide outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has created many economic and financial
challenges. Due to the nature of the virus, schools had to resort to online classes, this shift caused
financial burdens for many parents in the form of: increased home expenses. Parents had to
accommodate for the increase usage of groceries as students were at home all the time. There
was also in increase in utility bills such as water bills and electrical expenses. There was also the
issue of lack or poor availability of Wi-Fi internet access in certain areas, which had parents
resorting to frequent purchasing of data plans.
The study of how the financial effects of online classes due to the covid 19 pandemic has
affected the cost of sending a grade 11 student to school in the parish of, St. Elizabeth is one of
importance because as a student of principal of accounting this study enhanced the group’s team
working, researching skills along with the enhancement and utilization of lessons taught in class
applied in the real world.

METHODOLOGY

In this study, the researchers gathered information from parents by conducting interviews and
surveys. Parents of Munro college students in the St. Elizabeth parish of Jamaica of children in
grades 10 and or 11 (during the online school pandemic era) were interviewed face to face and
given surveys to complete via Microsoft forms. The survey contained five open and four closed
ended questions in order to extract quantitative and qualitative data from respondents to suit the
objectives. find out what factors caused the most increase in monthly expenses during online
classes. Three Interviews were conducted with parents from different incomes grades and
household structures. The interview gave first-hand insightful data on the financial effects of
students doing online classes from the parents’ perspective which proved effective and
immensely conducive to this research.
Conducting this research highlighted the advantages as well as the disadvantages of using
surveys and interviews. The advantages of using interviews as a means of data collection were
that it gave firsthand personal information from parents, that questioners could not provide the
researchers. The greatest disadvantage of using interviews for data collection was the turn off

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from many potential interviewees because they were not comfortable giving personal
information.

The surveys proved advantageous for the researchers as it was easily distributable and provided
firsthand data as interviews without actually interviewing. The disadvantages highlighted by
using surveys were that many persons collected survey sheets but did not fill them out, or return
them.

Survey questions

This survey is being conducted by a group of Munro college students; this survey is a part of a
principal of accounts school-based-assessment (S.B.A), in which the researchers/ students
decided it best to carry out a survey in order to further understand the financial effects of online
classes on parents. Survey respondents can be best assured that no personal data will be shared
except for the sole reason of this S.B.A.

1. Are you the parent/guardian of a student or students who attended online classes during the
covid 19 pandemic?

2. what is the total monthly income of the household? ________$

3. How many members reside in the household? _____

4. How much money was spent or estimated to be spent on Household products on a monthly
basis before online school (exclude rent)? ___________$

5. How much money was spent or estimated to be spent on household items during the online
school era? (Exclude rent) __________$

6. What caused the most increase in monthly expense?

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 Increase in Electricity usage [__]
Internet expenses [__]
Increase purchasing of food items [__]
Increase in water usage [__]

7. Did you have to resort to purchasing/ installing new means of internet connection
accommodate online classes?
I had to Install internet [__]
I had to Upgrade internet [__]
I had to purchase frequent data plans [__]
I did not have to purchase new mean on WIFI connection [__]

8. Do you have a personal budget? Yes [_] no [_]

Interview questions

How would you describe your family structure? (Single parent, extended, dual parent etc.)
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Are there multiple streams / providers of income within the household?
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________
What was the most financial challenging aspect of online classes?
______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Was there an issue of internet connectivity in your area? (If so, explain how this was overcome
or
managed)______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

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During online school your children spent more time at home, what were some financial
disadvantages this held?
______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
How Did you adjust to accommodate the increase in household expenses during online classes,
how did you?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________
What are some measures that you could have implemented to reduce to cost of online school?

Fig: 1
Graph showing the total monthy income of each
respondent's household

$300,000.00 $280,000.00

$250,000.00
$200,000.00 $200,000.00
$190,000.00
total monthly income

$200,000.00 $180,000.00
$140,000.00
$150,000.00 $120,000.00
$110,000.00
$90,000.00
$100,000.00 $65,000.00

$50,000.00

$-
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
respondents

This graph highlights the monthly income of all the questionnaire respondents,

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The average monthly income of the 10 respondents is 157,500 $. The highest monthly income
was 280,000 $ while the lowest was 65,000 $.

The modal monthly income was 200,000 $, while the median monthly income was 160,000 $.

Fig: 2
graph showing the total money spent on mon-
thy household expenses (exculding rent) before
online school
$80,000.00

$60,000.00
Jamaican dollars

$40,000.00 $40,000.00
$35,000.00 $35,000.00$32,000.00
$30,000.00
$25,000.00
$20,000.00

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
respondents
Fi
gure 2 above shows the total money each questionnaire respondent typically per month on house
hold expenses (*excluding rent) such as: Lighting expenses, water expenses, groceries, internet,
entertainment and telephone expenses before the online school era.

On average each respondent spent 39,200 $.

The respondent with the highest income of 280,000 $ had the highest monthly expense of
80,000 this household also had the most persons living under one household.

The modal monthly expense was, 40,000 $

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 Fig 3
Graph showing money spent on household ex -
penses (excluding rent) by respondents during
online school era.
$80,000.00 $75,000.00

$70,000.00
$68,000.00
$60,000.00
$52,000.00
$50,000.00 $46,000.00 $48,000.00
Jamaican dollars

$40,000.00
$44,000.00
$42,000.00
$30,000.00 $35,000.00
$25,000.00 $30,000.00
$20,000.00

$10,000.00

$-
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

respondents

Figure 3 above shows the amount of money respondents typical spent during the online school
era due to the pandemic. The respondents experienced on average a 24% increase in monthly
expenses due to online schooling. One household which had a 6.2% decrease in monthly
expenses bring the total average to 22%. The household that had a 6.2% decrease in monthly
expense during online school is also the household of the highest income and monthly expenses
before online school; they were later interviewed.

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 Fig 4
pie chart highlighti ng the factor that caused in-
crease in monthly expenses for the Respondesnt's

internet expenses
25%

food purchases
50%

electricity bill
25%

The figure 4 above shows what expense accounted for the most increase in monthly expenses
during online school. 50% of the respondents had a to purchase more grocires which accounted
for an increase in monthly expenese. 25% of respondents stated that internet expenses accounted
for a rise in ex penses while for the remianding quarter it was due to increase in electricty bill.

No respondent had an increase in monthly expenses due to increase in water usage.

Conclusion

Due to the Covid 19 pandemic schools had to resort to using digital means of hosting classes. As
a result of this students stayed home more and this held financial burdens for some parents. The
researchers found that parents in the parish of ST. Elizabeth experienced a 22% increase in
household expenses. This increase in expenses was mostly due to the increase in purchasing of
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food items. As for the factors that can reduce the burden of online school on parents are: tracking
all expenses so that you know where your money is being spent, development of meal schedules
for each day of the week to reduce cost of food purchases, being more efficient with electronic
devices and choosing cost effective stores to purchase groceries from.

Recommendation

Based on the interview responses the researchers recommend that these strategies to parents that
could lessen expenses during online school.

1- Track all expense in a document such as a spread sheet, this allows you to track where
your money is being spent.
2- Develop meal schedules for each day of the week. Which lessens the cost of food
purchases
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3- Be energy efficient with electronic devices
4- Choose cost effective stores to purchase groceries from

Bibliography

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