April 2020
Table of Contents
Page
Background
3
Rationale
4
KEY ISSUES
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Work Schedule
Granting of leave while working remotely
Resumption of staff during COVID-19
Assumption of Duties During COVID-19
Guidelines for School Nurses, Guidance Counselors and
Deans of Discipline During COVID-19
Payment of Temporary and Contract Staff
Guidelines for Managing Distance Learning Environment
Distance Learning Tips for Teachers
Appendices
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MOEYI - School Bulletin 48/2020
MoFPS – Circular
Page | 2 –Educational Administration in Emergency : Guidelines for School Administrators – April 2020
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6
7
8
9
10
11
18
Background
Jamaica reported its first case of the novel corona virus (COVID-19) on March10, 2020
and the closure of schools was announced on March 12, 2020. With the closure of
schools on March 13, 2020 nearly half a million students at the early childhood, primary,
secondary and tertiary levels were thrust into a distance/remote learning environment
for the continuation of the teaching and learning process and the preparation for the
sitting of both national and regional examinations. However, prior to the Prime
Minister’s announcement of the closure the Ministry of Education, Youth and
Information in consultation with stakeholders in education had developed an Education
In Emergencies (EIE) plan.
This plan was predicated on the fact that the global environment in which schools would
now need to operate would be unpredictable, complex and constantly changing
consequently creating a high degree of uncertainty for our immediate educational
environment. This would require a greater reliance on Information, Communication
Technologies (ICT) to facilitate teaching and learning as well as to manage and
supervise the operations of the schools.
This new paradigm has seen greater utilization of a variety of media and the
introduction of a blend of skills for the continuation of education and exploits the use of
varying learning modalities in order to ensure the wheels of education continue to
function across the region and across the nation.
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Rationale
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, in an effort to standardize the
processes in this changing environment, has now developed a framework which reflects
our mode of operation within this new context. This framework is necessary to
1. Provide a quick yet sustainable reference that ensures a standardized approach
to responding to the myriad of implications of the changes impacting the
education environment.
2. Empower school leaders to continue to lead and manage the operations of their
schools in the distant/remote learning environment.
3. Assist school leaders in devising other creative strategies in supporting major
stakeholders especially students, parents and techers as they seek to navigate
the new learning environment while coping with the threat of the virus.
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KEY ISSUES
Work Schedule
The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Circular No 4 dated March 17, 2020 and
Bulletin 48/2020 made provisions for public sector workers to work from home. This
included school leaders, teachers and non-teaching staff.
The provisions triggered the following guidelines for school leaders and other school
personnel:
1. School personnel are not to be marked absent during this period of the COVID19 pandemic in which schools have been mandated to be closed.
2. Teachers satisfying the requirement within their current constraints would be
deemed to be working remotely and would satisfy the criteria of a work from
home arrangement. Teachers are expected to:
• remain in contact with their school administrators, supervisors and students
using the various communication media.
• show that provisions were made for students learning to continue through the
use of various media including virtual classroom environment facilitated on
the various internet platforms as well as the provision of printed materials for
students who may not be able to access the electronic media.
• show they have made arrangements to facilitate ongoing learning through the
provision and marking of assignments prepared for distribution to students as
per decision taken and agreed on by the school administrators.
Other school personnel classified as non-academic staff may be placed on a work
schedule that may be determined by the school board/school administrators as the
need arises. These school personnel are on call but are also to be facilitated under the
work from home arrangement and must not be marked absent once approved by school
administrators to work from home.
School leaders are reminded to be strategic and reasonable in their deployment
strategy. Therefore, every effort must be made not to expose the staff to any
unnecessary risks of contracting the coronavirus.
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v
Granting of leave while Working
Remotely
Academic and Non-academic staff who will require sick or maternity leave or vacation
leave while working remotely are expected to follow the required guideline for such
request:
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•
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•
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A written application for the period of leave being requested along with
supporting medical certificate. These can be submitted electronically in the
initial phase.
Submission must be made through the principal and chairman.
Principals must ensure that applications are sent to the Regional Office as
quickly as possible. These will be accepted electronically until the formal
copies can be submitted.
Where staff had applied for leave prior to the closure of schools and have not
yet received a written response, contact can be made with the respective
Regional Office.
Academic and Non-academic staff whose vacation leave was approved prior
to the closure of schools are expected to proceed on leave as granted unless
subsequent correspondence is received for processing.
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Resumption of Staff during COVID19
1. Staff whose leave ended during the period of closure are expected to do the
usual written resumption through their principal and chairman. Resumption
letters may be sent via email, using the “Resignation Alert” email account and the
original furnished as soon as possible or when the system returns to normality.
2. Staff/Principals who are at non-Bursar paid institution must ensure that their
letters of resumptions are sent to the respective Regional Offices in order to
ensure continuity of salary. This may be sent electronically, using the
“Resignation Alert” email account and the original furnished as soon as possible.
3. All teachers on leave who are expected to resume May 1, 2020, should submit
their letters of resumption. Resumption letters and supporting documents may
be sent via email using the “Resignation Alert” email account and the original
furnished as soon as possible.
o In the case where a staff member is on vacation leave/study leave
overseas and is unable to resume duties, due to the closure of our
borders; written communication must be submitted to their respective
school administrator to outline this matter. In such instances a copy of
their travel itinerary and ticket receipt should be submitted along with
the cover letter as documentary evidence.
o The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information may consider
granting special leave en bloc up to three months or until the travel ban
is lifted, for these teachers to avoid any loss of salary. This should be
requested in writing. However all documentation must be submitted
via the Board of Management of the respective institution. If the
substantive post holder is not able to resume after three months
consequent to the COVID-19 pandemic, he/she must inform the Board
of Management and make another appeal for extension of special
leave.
Supporting reasons for the additional leave should be
submitted.
o Teachers acting for those who are unable to resume should be
retained for a fixed period that should not exceed three months. If the
substantive post holder does not resume within or after three months,
the Board should inform the Regional Office and make the necessary
arrangements for the person who is acting to continue until further
notice.
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o Teachers acting for those who are currently on the island and should
resume May 1, 2020, and whose contracts will end on April 30, 2020,
should be retained under the Education in Emergencies Plan: COVID19 pandemic, approved by the Minister. Special approval will be given
for these teachers to assist with the remote/distant learning or homeschooling operations for the duration of the period. This information
should be submitted through the Regional Director for processing and
approval by the Permanent Secretary.
4. In instances where non-academic staff are not able to resume duties and have
additional vacation leave, they may apply for an extension of vacation leave or
for special leave with pay with justification.
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Assumption of Duties during
COVID-19
•
There is currently a hold on all employment of new staff, however the interviews
for Principals for the upcoming school year may proceed where possible using
suitable methods approved by the School Board.
•
The appointments for Principals and Vice Principals will continue to be processed
by the Teachers Services Commission and the Region for those who are
currently acting in their positions.
•
In cases where the staff member had signed the respective appointment forms
prior to the closure of school he/she will be allowed to assume duties and
commence working as per guideline of the institution.
•
Newly appointed principals and vice principals, who are currently employed to
another institution and have been advised by the board of the new institution
about their appointment and had not signed the 503 Form, are asked to remain
at their institution/their substantive posts until further advised. These persons are
to write to the board chairmen requesting a September 1, 2020 start date and
reference the ministry’s directive in support of the delayed assumption date.
• Where a resignation was tendered to take up appointment at another public
institution and persons are unable to do so due to closure of schools, we ask that
the board considers a withdrawal of resignation in order for continuity of service
and salary, on humanitarian grounds.
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v Guidelines for School Nurses,
Guidance Counselors and Deans of
Discipline during COVID-19
•
The Ministry has no objection to a School Nurse assisting in the Public Health
system at this time. As a result, School Nurses who intend to do so are asked to
advise their respective Board of Management, in writing.
•
Guidance Counsellors and Deans of Discipline are asked to try and maintain
contact with students who they know will be severely challenged during this
period.
•
Provision should be made to schedule Guidance Counsellors and Deans of
Discipline to join online classes or to observe and help with maintaining student
discipline during online interactions.
•
The Training of Guidance Counsellors and Deans of Discipline in psycho-social
support can be accessed through the Safety and Security in Schools Unit or the
Guidance Counselling Unit of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.
•
School administrators should make the effort to enable the Guidance Counsellors
and Dean of Disciplines in the provision of psychosocial care.
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v Payment of Temporary and
Contract Staff
The temporary/contractual staff who are engaged in posts being funded by the Ministry
of Education, Youth and Information, should be retained on the payroll as guided by
their employment agreements. Therefore, approval is granted for payment to be made
to staff already funded by the Ministry through the operational grant. These individuals
include:
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Janitors
Cooks
Part time Teachers
APSE Coaches
Support staff approved under LEGS, HOPE and the Brain Builders Programme
Teachers paid by Salary Subsidy through the ECC as well as teachers paid on
the Brain Builder Programme will continue receiving payments.
The Boards will need to assess their financial situation and determine what allowance
can be made to pay staff that they directly employ if they are able to provide support to
the home schooling arrangements. A special allowance could also be considered for
persons not working. Kindly note that this will have to be properly documented and
approval sought through the Regional Directors who will process for approval by the
Permanent Secretary.
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Guidelines for Managing Distance
Learning Environment
DISTANCE LEARNING MANAGEMENT GUIDELINE
A guide to assist school leaders in their virtual/remote leadership roles:
Accounting for non-negotiable educational outputs.
CORE AREAS
Counselling
Behaviour
Management
PERSONNEL/
TARGET
AUDIENCE
INPUTS/EVIDENCE/RECOMMENDATIONS
Students and
Staff
Enable staff and students to cope with the sudden disruption
in the learning process.
Students
•
Guidance Counsellors/Chaplains/Social Workers
should provide personal development/crisis
management sessions/activities, group or telecounselling to parents, students and staff. A focus on
values and attitudes and strategies for independent
learning etc. is paramount.
•
These may be done remotely or school administrators
may make school facilities available for counsellors to
execute these tasks. This is a major period of
adjustment that should not be underestimated.
•
The Regional Guidance and Counselling team can
assist all institutions, including the Early Childhood
Institutions that need support during this time, through
the Regional Offices or Early Childhood Commission
•
Guidance Counsellors and Deans of Discipline should
continue to provide their support services to the
students they have been working via the telephone,
voice-note, video conferencing, flyers etc.
•
Schedule time to educate students about digital
citizenship, cyber ethics, appropriate online behaviours
and class participation rules.
•
Advise that school sanctions still apply for disregard of
Page | 12 –Educational Administration in Emergency : Guidelines for School Administrators – April 2020
CORE AREAS
PERSONNEL/
TARGET
AUDIENCE
INPUTS/EVIDENCE/RECOMMENDATIONS
school rules during online engagements eg. Disrespect
of staff and students etc.
Empowerment
Webinars/
Sessions
Teachers and
School Leaders
•
Use class leaders to assist with holding students
accountable where possible.
•
Build e-feedback and reinforcement tools in the
lessons/platforms/modalities and use these to guide
interventions.
•
Engage in on-going empowerment sessions. MoEYI,
through its agencies, units and partners, will facilitate
empowerment sessions with all stakeholders where
necessary to ensure effective transition to e-leading, eteaching, e-testing, e-supervision etc. The details will
be communicated via the Schools’ Bulletin.
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CORE AREAS
Communication
PERSONNEL/
TARGET
AUDIENCE
School Board
Staff, Parents,
and Students
INPUTS/EVIDENCE/RECOMMENDATIONS
Create communication opportunities with all stakeholders.
•
It is very important that a message be sent to your
team daily, be it written, voice-note or video etc.
Your team needs to know that you are leading,
empathetic, sympathetic and listening to them and
that you are enabling the resilience of the team
collaboratively.
•
Convene virtual meetings (staff, parents, students
etc.) to ensure that collaboration and
communication are maintained. Following each
meeting, compose a summary of all decisions
taken and share with all members of the targeted
group.
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Active involvement from the school leaders during
this period of home-schooling is strongly
encouraged.
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Some channel/media to consider: WhatsApp
groups, email groups, text message groups,
teleconferencing (Zoom, Microsoft teams, Skype,
Google Hangouts), traditional or social media,
flyer, newsletter etc.
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The School Board is to enable access by
underwriting the cost of communication
plans/efforts where needed. Funds from the
Regular Grant can be used for this purpose.
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CORE AREAS
PERSONNEL/
TARGET
AUDIENCE
Attendance
Staff & Students
Leading Learning
Opportunities
Staff
INPUTS/EVIDENCE/RECOMMENDATIONS
All staff and students must be accounted for during the
official period of the home-school programme.
•
In your attendance records, all students and staff
(except for those who are on approved leave)
should be credited (considered present) for the
period of closure. Indicate in the slot “Distance
Learning: COVID-19”. However, every effort must
be made to achieve and measure the engagement
of staff and students.
•
Record in the Log Book the period of school
closure and the transition to distance learning with
the justification. Kindly reference the relevant
Schools’ Bulletins as supporting documentation.
•
The Ministry will provide an electronic
administrative tool that may be used.
School Administrators should create or maintain
accountability systems guided by the circumstances:
• Establish a method of check-in and feedback from
staff where possible.
•
Develop and agree on systems to collate evidence
of participation/attendance while using remote
systems.
•
Create the e-Senior Management Groups - assign
leads and assistants for each group e.g. a lead for
televised lessons, online lessons, print materials
etc. Your sub-groups in the Curriculum. The
administrative tool shared by the Ministry can
enable this activity
•
Implementation virtual teams (CITs) are applicable
here.
Utilize established timetables or create a modified
timetable/schedule with subject leads where
necessary. Please note that this should not be
random but carefully planned. You may include
the Ministry and its related agencies’ enabled
Page | 15 –Educational Administration in Emergency : Guidelines for School Administrators – April 2020
CORE AREAS
PERSONNEL/
TARGET
AUDIENCE
INPUTS/EVIDENCE/RECOMMENDATIONS
learning opportunities in your plans to reduce the
demands on teachers – Radios, PBCJ and TVJ
Schools Not Out lessons, Edufocal, Learning Hub,
BookFusion, Cheetah, CXC Learning Hub, One
on One etc. Activity plans, stories and games are
available for children in 0-5 cohort on the ECC’s
website.
Teaching and
Assessment
Students and
Teachers
•
Centralize and standardize activity/lesson plans
collaboratively, vet plans and share with all
teachers/parents where possible.
•
Create worksheets aligned with the National Early
Childhood Curriculum/NSC/Syllabi and arrange for
printing and distribution where
possible/necessary.
•
Create e-monitoring leads – e.g. two or more
teachers can lead a class, each assigned different
roles to ensure participation, appropriate
behaviours etc. Student leaders may be asked to
support in this regard.
•
Audit the methods of learning and communication
available to your stakeholders.
•
Assess the capacity of your stakeholders to use
the available learning tools.
•
Access/create training modalities for both students
and staff (simplicity, incremental, bite size
sessions) in using available learning modalities.
The Ministry can assist in this regard.
•
Map your staff and students/grades to a learning
modality (allow for flexibility).
•
Communicate the modes of learning for student
engagement, guided by the school’s
context/resources and the approved timetable.
Learning engagement should not be random;
should be aligned to the NSC/Syllabi and school
Page | 16 –Educational Administration in Emergency : Guidelines for School Administrators – April 2020
CORE AREAS
PERSONNEL/
TARGET
AUDIENCE
INPUTS/EVIDENCE/RECOMMENDATIONS
leaders must play a part in this effort. Some
examples to consider are: live online learning,
archived lessons, television/radio enabled
lessons, printed materials (Learning Kits) etc.
•
Establish lesson monitoring capabilities eg.
Leaders should have log-ins for classes and
access to distribution logs for those who rely on
printed materials, should be able to determine
how many students are engaged daily etc.
Student Report Card/Assessment Records:
Assessments such as classwork, test or projects to be
recorded to determine the term grades should be agreed
on and communicated to all stakeholders.
• Students notified of modes of assessment, topics,
date, time value of the assessment etc. in
advance (flexibility is encouraged).
• Students should be kept abreast of changes
regarding exit exams.
• Create drop box/space for assessments to be
uploaded or delivered for grading.
• Assessment marked and feedback provided to
students.
• Grades recorded for report purposes.
• Evidence of students’ work should be curated in
light of the requirements for the National School
Leaving Certificate.
Administration
Teacher/
Secretary
Where possible assign staff to complete time-bound
activities:
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Update attendance records
Check emails
Complete E-Census forms and MySchool SMS
records
Manage SBA records
Print and package materials
Prepare cheques and make payments
Maintain and secure school facilities
Page | 17 –Educational Administration in Emergency : Guidelines for School Administrators – April 2020
CORE AREAS
PERSONNEL/
TARGET
AUDIENCE
Staff Appraisal
Staff
INPUTS/EVIDENCE/RECOMMENDATIONS
•
•
•
Staff appraisal continues and the assessment of
teachers/principals/support staff during this period
will inform the final appraisal for the academic
year.
Every effort must be made by administration to
enable the staff involvement and ability to perform
expected tasks.
Staff should be recognized for outstanding
performance as per usual and especially during
this period of disruption. The Jamaica Teaching
Council (JTC) will award certificates of merit for
outstanding teaching during this period – see the
JTC website for details.
Page | 18 –Educational Administration in Emergency : Guidelines for School Administrators – April 2020
v
Distance Learning Tips for Teachers
Distance learning experiences demand a shift from the traditional face-to-face learning
to an opportunity that facilitates innovation, creativity, collaboration and fun in learning
powered by the multiplicity of learning modalities. In preparing for the distance learning
modalities, a teacher should think about what a week looks like, what a day looks like,
what’s happening live versus asynchronously, using the various learning modalities?
Once these questions have been answered in the affirmative, the teacher can get
started.
Tips
Teachers need to create a concrete path for students and their parents to easily
reference the plan and procedures for the learning engagement.
Ø Check in on students’ emotional and health needs regularly
Ø Utilize the following approaches in coaching students:
o 1. whole class broadcasts, 2) individual coaching and check-ins, 3)
synchronous meetings, and 4) facilitating small group and peer learning.
o Send messages to provide support, offer feedback, celebrate progress,
mourn loss and offer guidance.
o Celebrate ‘wins’ with all students. Make sure that students as many as
possible, have small wins each day.
o Make materials available in simple, low bandwidth communications
o Teachers can utilize phone calls, messaging services, video conferencing
to keep parents and guardians informed and involved (school resources
can be made available to support this).
Ø Create a community of learners who can interact online. Help students to
observe online protocols and respect for other users. This community of learners
will have social presence, teaching presence and cognitive presence.
o Social presence: students are able to assert their social and emotional
selves, view classmates as real people, and communicate openly online.
Page | 19 –Educational Administration in Emergency : Guidelines for School Administrators – April 2020
o Teaching presence: encompasses the design, instruction and facilitation
of learning.
o Cognitive presence: the students’ ability to construct meaning through a
process of inquiry, dialogue, and reflection.
Ø As with good teaching, a modular approach is essential to the success of
distance learning. Teachers must break up learning activities into smaller parts
and give students enough time to self-pace through those activities.
Ø Teachers can plan one week at a time – post all videos, articles, podcasts, online
discussion questions, and assignments that students will need at the start of the
week.
Ø Teachers should highlight the most critical elements of the curriculum for
example, those areas that definitively promote the development of the 21st
century skills. Make lessons creative, succinct, and interesting.
Ø Teachers should give work/activities that have some level of familiarity to it.
Ø Periodically, teachers need to problem solve to ascertain what is working.
Questions like, how are students accessing content? What is working well? What
is frustrating? How does the assistive technology they already use work within
the new online environment and is there need for new technology?
Ø Hold office hours where students, parents and guardians can check in through
phone calls and messaging.
Ø example by sending an emoji during morning meetings.
Ø Give tasks that will allow students to become acquainted with the online platform
for example, use Zoom app, let students do presentations by casting their screen
and speak on a given topic.
Ø Use the village. Give each member of the school community who isn’t involved in
distance learning for example, guidance counsellor, nurse, PTA president a list of
families to call each week. A guide can be provided with appropriate responses
for these persons to utilize.
Ø Engage engage engage: teachers should use creative active learning
experiences to engage students constantly.
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Ø Teachers can utilize the QEC model in networking and collaborating with other
teachers to share ideas, information and best practices which will lead to more
informed approaches to teaching via distance learning modalities.
Ø Relying on a team reduces work and stress: planning with a team and calibrating
assessments have proven to be quite effective. Curriculum Implementation Team
(CIT) comes in handy at this point.
Ø Teachers can model being a lifelong learner: enrolling in short courses online can
help in professional development, self-actualization and utilization of modern
learning tools in effecting teaching and learning.
Building Blocks of an Online Lesson
Building Block
Direct Instruction
Modelling
Discussion
Research
Collaborative Task
Practice & Review
Assessment
Reflection/ Metacognition
Skill Building
Objective
Online Tool
Mini-lesson to explain
Use Screencast or Zoom to preconcept (20 mins)
record lesson
Apply a strategy or think
Use shared screen to model
aloud while explaining a task strategy you need students to
employ.
Engage students in
Engage students in
conversation during the
synchronous discussion using
lesson
Googlemeet or Zoom
Encourage topic research or
Have students complete an
group/crowd search on a
online research bi-weekly.
given topic to ensure optimal
participation
Engage students in a shared
Assign groups (online) using
task (Think-Pair-Share etc.)
Microsoft or Google
Connect students with
Apply online suites such as
practice/review activities
Kahoot, Quizlet, Khan
Academy, BrainPop,
BrainPopJr, First in Math etc.
Assess students work and
Assign a writing prompt or
use data to determine the
online assessment using Google
way forward.
sheets to assess students’
mastery of content
Require students to selfEmploy the use of exit slip at
reflect on what they have
the end of a day’s lesson or at
learned; encourage them to
the end of each week’s lesson,
ask questions to concretize
an online journal or learning
concept knowledge.
log that provides individual
information on each student’s
progress.
Page | 21 –Educational Administration in Emergency : Guidelines for School Administrators – April 2020
References
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Leadership: Special Report, 28-31.
Jung, L. (2020). Accommodations, modifications, and intervention at a distance.
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Rebora, A. (2020). Restoring connection: Real-life advice on transitioning to online
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Reich, J. (2020). Keep it simple, schools. Educational Leadership: Special Report, 2-5.
Swan, K., Garrison, D. R., & Richardson, J. C. (2009). A constructivist approach to
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Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 43–57.
Tu, C. H., & McIsaac, M. (2002). The relationship of social presence and interaction
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