NPTAJ calls for field schools

The National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ) wants the Government to consider establishing field schools to reduce disruptions in teaching and learning, as thousands of students remain displaced in the wake of Hurricane Melissa.

“The very same way in which we are looking at having field hospitals, field classrooms [should be erected] to accommodate students, not only those who are doing examinations, but the ones who are in grades seven and nine,” NPTAJ President Stewart Jacobs told The Gleaner.

He also recommended that the Ministry of Education extend the school year to compensate for days lost during the hurricane and recovery period.

“I think with the Jamaica Teachers’ Association’s (JTA) persuasion, a lot of our teachers would be willing to give up their time on the Saturday and also give up their time for the extended hours of school, and to also sacrifice the holiday time - maybe Christmas [and/or] going into the Easter season and even the summer – just to make sure that these two to three months that our children will be out of contact, they’ll be able to make it up,” he said.

Hurricane Melissa – a Category 5 storm – tore through the island on October 28, damaging more than 600 public schools, ripping off roofs, flooding classrooms and laboratories, tearing down walls, and scattering debris everywhere.

There are approximately 1,010 public institutions in Jamaica.

As of November 19, some 791 public schools had reopened since the hurricane passed, Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon told the Senate last Friday.

JTA President Mark Malabver acknowledged that recovery will require an “all-hands-on-deck” effort, but noted that field schools cannot be applied universally, but should be implemented based on careful assessments.

“The high schools may require a different approach than the primary schools. When you look at the primary schools, based on their sheer number, it may be able to work in that sort of environment, rather than at the high schools,” he told The Gleaner.

He also stressed that extending the school year would require consultation to reach a consensus.

Meanwhile, the education minister says $325 million in clean-up grants have been disbursed to over 500 schools, ranging from $300,000 to $1 million, to facilitate debris removal, sanitation, and restoration of utilities and essential services.

Jacobs commended these efforts and the willingness of schools to host students from the hardest-hit southwestern parishes, but he urged attention to the psychosocial impact on teachers and students.

“As far as the NPTAJ is concerned, it is not doom and gloom. We can see where there was an immediate knee-jerk effort to try and get the education system back in order, and it is working,” he said.

But lamenting that there is “still a great percentage of students” who are not in school, Jacobs expressed concern about the potential impact on them.

“You have looters, you have those with different agendas, and we’re talking about creatures who prey on our children [who are in a] vulnerable state now, and also the parents, and safety is one of the concerns – safety from looters and so on, and safety for drinking water with the outbreak of leptospirosis,” he said.

Jamaica is now facing an outbreak of leptospirosis in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, with six suspected deaths between October 30 and dNovember 20, the health ministry said last week.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com