BVI students to benefit from free online study programme

Students across the British Virgin Islands will have free access to Flow’s Study programme until June 15.

A media release from the telecommunications company said the initiative is a joint partnership between the Cable & Wireless Charitable Foundation, Flow, and One-on-One Educational Services Limited.

The virtual education programme is available to all students between ages five to 18 regardless of their network operator and will provide them access to the curriculum used in their schools. 

Features of programme

Some of the features include more than 500 video lessons covering the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) curriculum; access to digital courses for students ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade; and 10 years of past paper solutions for more than 17 subjects.

It will also include a question bank and solutions section with more than 40,000 exam style questions and solutions for 35 subjects, and virtual science labs with more than 500 digital laboratory simulations for science subjects and skills gap testing for over 30 subjects.

A win for students during COVID-19 pandemic

Minister for Education Dr Natalio Wheatley thanked all parties involved for their donation in allowing students free access to the Flow Study programme.

He said the initiative will come in handy at a time when most students are forced to remain home from the classrooms as a result of measures in place by government to protect against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This will allow our students to continue their preparations for CSEC and Cape exams through access to the online learning platform and the excellent content which has been generated,” he said.

“This is an important part of the Ministry of Education’s response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, which has interrupted the traditional teaching and learning process. Flow is a valued partner in our transition to greater technological access,” Dr Wheatley added.

Aim is to provide support to offset disruption faced in crisis

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer Cable & Wireless Communications Inge Smidts said in crises such as the current pandemic, such partnerships are vital in ensure children and families are supported.

He said: “Given that parents are now faced with the reality of homeschooling their kids, we wanted to find a way to support them despite which network they subscribe to… Our primary concern is to ensure that students across the region continue to have access to the education they deserve and that there is minimal disruption to their learning.” 

Programme developed to facilitate all types of students

Also adding their input was One on One’s CEO Ricardo Allen who said the partnership was a strategic and important one which will benefit various types of students.

“This is a platform developed by some of the best Caribbean teachers for Caribbean nationals. Our platform has the capacity to facilitate all students to learn at their own pace, anytime, anywhere and from any device,” Allen stated.

The Flow Study programme will also benefit students in other countries in the region, including, Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and Turks & Caicos.