Jamaica: Is POD Teaching Breaking The Law?

Parents are now turning to learning PODs — also called “pandemic PODs” as a new means of education while private schools are feeling the burn of low student turnout by the second…but podding has become a major concern among independent schools, who see the pod method as not dissimilar to private schools, and are calling on governments intervention.

Monday, October 5 was the first day of school and also World Teacher’s Day. However, at 8:30 Monday morning, an emergency meeting was called with the Minister of Education Fayval Williams, and her team to address the independent school’s frustration concerning POD learning. 

Pods are groups that are lead by parents who want alternative education. These parents teach their children themselves or use other parents within the POD who is more knowledgeable of a particular subject. Sometimes these parents work together by combining their children to teach a certain topic.

One of the major problems that arose from the meeting is the double standard the independent schools believe exists when parent tutors are not stopped from doing at-home visits and tutoring with a group of children,   which they believe is similar to their teaching structure. The reach academy, an independent school in St Andrew, suggested that what goes for one should go for all.