COMMUNICATION generated by Fundación Flamboyan
San Juan, Puerto Rico (August 24, 2020) - An effective comprehensive plan for a safe and accessible restart of classes for all students is more critical than ever in Puerto Rico, following disruptions to the education system due to hurricanes, earthquakes and the pandemic. A group of philanthropic foundations that support education and communities on the island called for this.
Third Sector foundations analyzed the state of education today and shared their recommendations to the Department of Education in the document “Safe and accessible education: considerations for a comprehensive plan for the restart of classes in Puerto Rico.”. Fundación Flamboyán, Filantropía Puerto Rico, Fundación Colibrí, Fundación Banco Popular, Fundación Titín Foundation, Fundación Comunitaria de Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico Education Foundation, Liberty Foundation and Fundación Segarra Boerman e Hijos, Inc. joined in this initiative.
Carlos Rodríguez Silvestre, executive director of Fundación Flamboyán, expressed that “the recommendations included in this document will continue to be valid, critical and urgent. The main ones are: implement health measures for teachers, administrative staff and students; address the holistic needs of students; ensure equity in access to public education; listen to and involve families, since in the context of the pandemic, families must be at the center of planning, as they will be responsible for a large part of distance education; and ensure effective and transparent communication”.
Through the joint effort with all these organizations “we are not only sharing the knowledge and expertise that exists on the Island, but also highlighting the opportunity for collaboration between the Third Sector and the Department of Education,” added Rodríguez Silvestre.
Alexandra Hertell, executive director of the Segarra Boerman Foundation, stated that “the technology and Internet access gap exacerbates the already pronounced inequity in Puerto Rico. The numbers of students and teachers without access to internet and/or computers in the public education system fluctuate, but remain very high, at around 60% according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In reality, it is significantly higher in many communities, in some cases reaching as high as 90%. So how is the Department of Education making sure these students don't get lost in this gap? What accommodations and specifications are being considered for each community with its particular access issues? The PRDE could incorporate different forms of learning that complement an online education. For example, students could receive printed learning materials that reinforce the topics discussed in virtual classes. This material could be mailed to them, or they could stop by the school to pick it up. Radio could be used to implement the classes. The PRDE needs to guarantee access to education for all students and ensure that it does not marginalize those who need its support the most.”.
Hertell added that the PRDE must ensure that “communities, teachers and school employees, parents and students should be active participants and consulted in decisions about their education and campuses. No one better than they will know the challenges they face and possible solutions.”.
For his part, the executive president of the Puerto Rico Community Foundation, Dr. Nelson Colón Tarrats, called attention to the emotional impact on children and young people of so many catastrophic events, and how to address them for effective education. “We are concerned about the teaching-learning process of our students in the face of so much uncertainty, which they have lived through for the past years, since Hurricane Maria. This year it has increased due to the pandemic. What was supposed to be a school community with its members in interaction and continuous learning, has been transformed into children, youth and parents virtually connected in an exercise, almost unilateral, of teaching in which learning is subordinated to the capacity of attention and focus that the student may have”.
Hazel Colón Vázquez, program director of the Titín Foundation, commented that “education has always been one of our core focuses. Since the earthquakes that affected Puerto Rico, particularly in the southern area, we have been attentive to support and facilitate projects and platforms that allow distance education. One of the biggest obstacles for our students to continue with their teaching processes is the access to broadband connection and the lack of technological equipment to be able to participate in the assigned material and virtual meetings. This is not a problem with only one solution and we are working on this issue with haste and from multiple angles.
To that effect, Colón Vázquez mentioned that his foundation, as well as other third sector organizations, are identifying federal funds to provide and strengthen internet access, but there are still no organizational structures to effectively access them. “We are working in collaboration with the Economic Development Administration (EDA) of the federal Department of Commerce on multiple initiatives such as LabF3S to build capacity in the third sector to effectively access and manage these funds,” he said. Colón Vázquez added that they are leading a federally designated First Economic Development District (EDD) in Puerto Rico, with 10 industries that include the education and non-profit sectors, from which a pilot internet connection project for two municipalities could be replicated in other regions of the island to support students.