By Latrishka Thomas
By the end of July, a new educational series, founded by a youth parliamentarian, will be launched to ensure that “no student is left behind”.
A member of the National Youth Parliament Association of Antigua and Barbuda (NYPAAB) Crystal Valentine-Willock, who represents St John’s City East, told Observer that the series dubbed ‘Study Pro’ was birthed because of the Covid-19 pandemic
“Due to the lockdown, many of the students have been left behind and ‘Study Pro will help them to catch up,” Valentine-Willock stated.
The series, as explained by Willock, will include teachings, practice tests and answer sheets created by local educators such as Jacinther Athill, the principal of the Potters Primary School and voluntary contributor to ‘Study Pro.’
The educational series will target students in Grades 5 and 6 and Form 1 in areas such as Mathematics, English, Social Studies and Science.
Twenty-eight-year-old Valentine-Willock reiterated her desire to help young people as she explained that the goal of this initiative is to “better Caribbean children.
And, as stated by co-founder of Study Pro and Youth MP for St Peter, 26-year-old Chaneil Imhoff, the programme will eventually be accessible regionally. ”
“Eventually we’d like to scale this to an online platform while still maintaining the offline version so it can be as accessible as possible, but by using the online portal as well we will be able to scale to the OECS and the wider region while still maintaining the offline delivery method to make it as accessible as possible,” she stated.
The Youth MPs further explained that the lessons will initially be produced via USB flash drives.
They will be free for the first two months but will come at a cost of US $15 per month thereafter.
As stated why Valentine-Willock, the series is a cost effective and green option since “it costs less than after classes and does not entail the use of paper”.
Persons wishing to assist or contribute to ‘Study Pro’ can do so by emailing [email protected] or calling 7835097.
The NYPAAB’s Youth MP for the St Paul Constituency, Jahmaal Frederick, is also a ‘Study Pro’ ambassador.