Fulfilling her role as a teacher despite challenges
Shavina Hibbert
Shavina Hibbert

-Education during a pandemic at Long Creek

By Michel Outridge

Despite not having internet access, the highway community of Long Creek is doing its best to home-school children during the pandemic.

Shavina Hibbert is attached to the Long Creek Primary School and has been instrumental in distributing learning material given by the Ministry of Education.

The 28-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that manoeuvring around educational needs during the pandemic has not been an easy task.

She explained that when schools were closed in March, the teachers tried assisting the children with classwork. It was done via a Whatsapp group, but some parents simply could not afford to pay for data on their mobile phones, so that aspect was short-lived.

The Grade Six teacher said that she would visit the school and try to print out work, which she would then deliver to her pupils, so that they could continue their studies at home.

The mother of two reported that textbooks given by the Ministry were also handed over to the children to accelerate their home-school learning.

Teacher Shavina Hibbert with one of her two sons. (Carl Croker photos)

“More than often pupils would come to my home and I would ensure they can do the course work correctly because I enjoy serving my community. I signed up for this.”

Hibbert, who initially had no interest in becoming a teacher, has now clocked two years in the profession.

“I didn’t really wanted to be a teacher but I was looking for work and I was qualified and I applied and got the job and over time I became passionate about it,” she said.

Teaching might not have been her desire, but it was in her blood. Her mother is the retired acting head teacher of Long Creek Primary School.

“I was dejected after successfully completing two years of Agriculture School then when I applied for jobs in that sector I did not even get a response so I turned to teaching as a last resort to earn and I liked it very much.”

Hibbert added that having her pupils grasp her lessons brings her a lot of job. She said that having an ICT hub at the school, which would allow the children access to the internet via computers, would definitely be a plus for the students.

She explained that the children hardly ever leave the village so they do not have exposure to the outside world.

The teacher related that most pupils have a difficulty writing compositions and expressing themselves on paper.
Despite the challenges, Hibbert revealed that the school has had success stories.
She stated that five pupils wrote the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) exams and they all did relatively well.
Those that passed with good grades will be attending Dora and Friendship secondary schools.

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