12 schools fail grade on COVID-19 safety

Twelve primary schools in St Catherine have reportedly failed Ministry of Health COVID-19 inspections, sparking new worries that parents will be wary of sending out their children for face-to-face classes in January.

The schools were inspected two weeks ago.

Chief public health inspector for the parish, Grayson Hutchinson, said that the areas of concern were the lack of isolation areas, absence of social distancing, failure to establish a cleaning schedule, pest infestation, malfunctioning toilets, and improper solid waste management. He declined to name the schools, citing the risk of stigmatisation.

There have been further inspections since then, Hutchinson said, and the health department is seeking to determine whether corrective measures have been implemented to facilitate the reopening of schools in January.

“We have been monitoring them, and depending on the breach we will make a final determination before the new term begins,” he told The Gleaner.

STILL RELUCTANT

But despite the health department’s intervention, some parents remain reluctant to send their children out to school in January.

Winston Kirkwood, a single parent from Spanish Town, said that his two primary-school-age children will not attend in-person classes because he is not confident of administrators’ capacity to protect them from the coronavirus.

“If my children contract the virus and take it home, that would be bad for me being the breadwinner,” said Kirkwood.

That concern comes against the backdrop of rising coronavirus infections in Jamaica, with cases mounting to 12,354, as at December 21. There have been 288 deaths.

The Government is bracing for a spike after the holidays, with the contagious virus triggering tightened curfew hours in Westmoreland amid a cluster of infections.

Schools were ordered closed in March and there has been limited reopening of a few dozen institutions since November.

Jodian Morris, a Linstead resident and mother of two, said that she would not recommend that students from grade one to three be required to engage in face-to-face lessons until the virus is under control.

“I think it could be a problem for these younger students, regardless of the state of readiness of the school environment,” Morris told The Gleaner.

“There is a strong possibility that they could be exposed to the virus.”