Education Minister: Loan Programme for laptop use coming
This was one of the announcements by Minister for Education Dr The Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) while addressing the Remote Learning Orientation for Parent’s Forum on social media on Tuesday, April 28, 2020.
With the presence of the Novel Coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, in the Virgin Islands, public schools were closed and students were being engaged remotely.
“You have to pay to get access to the device and those persons who have used the device and have damaged them, you know that there is a replacement cost to the device,” he told parents.
He added: “No student will be able to participate in that programme until they pay the replacement cost for the device which have been damaged.”
During the orientation programme, a large number of persons took the opportunity to inform the Government that their children needed laptops.
Laptops are government-owned!
The Minister also clarified that students and parents should not get the "wrong idea" that the laptops belong to them because they are paying a fee.
"This is not the case," he said.
“It is important to say that this is a loan programme and so these devices will remain the property of the Government of the Virgin Islands so that other persons who are coming into the system will have access to these devices,” Hon Wheatley pointed out.
He said, however, discussions are underway to allow parents to purchase these laptops for their children on a rent-to-own basis.
“Certainly I am entertaining and exploring the possibility of facilitating the programme where persons can rent to own the laptop, where you pay something every month and then you would be able to keep a laptop. We are still exploring the possibility of that and announcements will be forthcoming as it pertains to the rent-to-own programme. But right now we are establishing just the loan programme,” he stated.
Minister Wheatley also said if there are inadequate devices per child, or if the children have other hurdles at home, the ministry will be exploring other avenues to ensure that every child is facilitated.
Meanwhile, public schools will reopen on Monday, May 4, 2020, and, according to Acting Chief Education Officer Ms Connie E. George, the Education Ministry is tentatively looking at July 10, 2020, for schools to close.
Some private schools reopened for the 'Trinity Term' this week.
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9 Responses to “Education Minister: Loan Programme for laptop use coming”
School is starting Monday right an it still has children in the community without laptops internet access at home parents without a job! Is the government looking into this? Were parents supposed to get money from to pay for these things? Come on government of British Virgin Islands poor people are crying