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$33M for learning opportunities lost due to pandemic
Pacific Daily News
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The governor s office is making $33 million in Education Stabilization Funds available for student engagement opportunities for Guam s public, private and charter school students.
The administration announced the opening of the Governor s Education Assistance and Youth Empowerment Grant Program and is soliciting interest and proposals from educational institutions, government entities, community organizations and non-rofit organizations, according to a news release from Adelup.
The aim is to develop programs and activities that will help address learning opportunities lost throughout the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures.
“It’s been over a year since we’ve shifted from face-to-face instruction to online learning. While we work to get all our students back to the classroom safely, we cannot ignore the lasting impacts this pandemic has had on their education,
Hard-copy distance learning no longer will be an option next year, according to the Department of Education, which has started to register students for next school year.
The education board on Tuesday passed a resolution, directing the public schools to phase out hard-copy learning by the end of the current school year, and to offer only online and face-to-face instruction next year, said Superintendent Jon Fernandez.
Eliminating hard-copy instruction and distribution will free up more days for students to be on campus, Fernandez said. The plan is to create two separate groups of teachers, with one group focused only on face-to-face instruction, and the other teaching students online only.
The Guam Department of Education continues to move forward with plans to make portable internet devices available to students and the deadline for internet providers to submit their bids is Feb. 22, according to education Superintendent Jon Fernandez.
The public schools have as much as $8 million in federal pandemic funding, from the governor’s office, to lease portable “MiFi” devices through next school year to provide home internet access.
The schools also have been distributing laptops to students who want them and recently opened the first eight community learning centers to provide internet and computer access after school hours.
Getting more students online, and away from hard-copy learning, is key to further expanding face-to-face instruction, Fernandez told the school board Tuesday.
The Guam Department of Education has finished tracking down hundreds of “missing” public school students after pandemic restrictions were eased and DOE was able to conduct home visits for the first time, according to education Superintendent Jon Fernandez.
In October, two months after the school year started, DOE reported that as many as 1,750 students still were “missing” not enrolled in either of the distance learning options and unable to be contacted using the information on file.
The public schools started the school year using only online or hard-copy distance learning because the governor had prohibited face-to-face instruction. Limited face-to-face instruction resumed last month, with about 25% of students participating.