Free EduFocal access for PEP students | Here’s how it work

This follows weeks of negotiation between the Government of Jamaica, Supreme Ventures Foundation and the Gordon Swaby-led EduFocal.

Following the official signing which took place at Supreme Ventures’ office recently, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Robert Morgan said 5,000 students stand to benefit from the deal.

He explained that under the agreement – effective January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021 – students are guaranteed zero-rated access to EduFocal’s basic package resources offered.

Education Minister Fayval Williams had told Parliament that such a step was highly important and beneficial in preparing students sitting the annual exam.

“We should note, too, that the ministry has provided support to the vulnerable student population by enabling access to the internet via reverse billing and negotiated for education data plans at reduced rates,” Minister Williams said in the House of Representatives in January, as the government sought solutions to ensure continuous learning disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

In a subsequent bulletin the ministry confirmed that “in an effort to support Grades 4, 5 and 6 students preparing to sit the various components of the Primary Exit Profile, by providing fully funded access to the EduFocal learning platform from Monday January 1, 2021 until June 30, 2021”.

What is EduFocal?

EduFocal is an online social learning platform that aims to prepare Jamaica’s primary level students for the Primary Exit Profile (PEP).

The platform offers:
• Over 20,000 National Standards Curriculum (NSC) aligned questions and answers for students in Grades 4 to 6
• Video Tutorials (for Grade 6)
• Report Card (allows for easy tracking of the child's progress by the child, parent or teacher)
• Solutions for questions (which help if a student's answer is wrong);
• Interactive Reading Content (Science & Social Studies)
• Leaderboard (allows children to see how they are tracking against their peers)

During the occasion Morgan called on other companies to support similar initiatives while urging the nation to adhere to the protocols in hope of lessening the delay to resume face-to-face learning.

“The longer we take to open our schools, it is the bigger the psychosocial and socioeconomic impact will have on the society,” said Morgan.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Supreme Ventures, Heather Goldson, said they are pleased to provide additional tools for students to access learning.

Chief Executive Officer of EduFocal, Gordon Swaby, noted the online learning and examination preparation platform, provides students with the tools and resources needed to excel.

It identifies gaps that they may have in various subjects, and helps them to overcome those challenges, he said.

“If a child is struggling in a particular subject area, we can pick that up on the platform and a resource person can help this child in the areas that they are having challenges,” said Swaby.

How to access EduFocal free package

If you are signing on to EduFocal for the first time, please go to:

https://www.edufocal.com/signup/student and follow the on-screen instructions.

When you get to the "Choose your plan" page, select the "EduFocal Basic" package. If you are already a member, go to www.edufocal.com/login.

Once you are on the site, go to https://www.edufocal.com/account/subscription and choose the basic plan to gain free access to EduFocal.

“We appeal to all teachers and parents to ensure our students benefit from this support initiative. The ministry remains committed to providing the necessary support for the successful sitting of all exit examinations,” said Dr Kasan Troupe, acting chief education officer.