Gareth Manning, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

R. Danny Williams, Donna Parchment, Anton Thompson and Dr. Henley Morgan - photos by Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Some school board chairpersons are calling for schools to be zoned in order to reduce the travelling time for students.

Speaking recently at a Gleaner Editors' Forum, the school officials argued that not only would zoning prevent students from travelling long distances, but it would also allow for more community participation and parents' involvement in the welfare of schools.

Chairman of the Hampton School Board, Donna Parchment, reasons that parents often send their children far away to school because of loyalty to a particular school or simply because the school in their district has a bad reputation or does not specialise in a particular area. But she acknowledges "there are benefits to sending children to the nearest school of the appropriate age cohort", while at the same time "recognising the variation in the quality of education that is being delivered."

Chairman of the Jamaica College school board, R. Danny Williams, agrees.

Travel long distances

He says at schools like his own, children are not benefiting as they ought to because they travel very long distances to school and are very tired when they arrive.

"They are travelling hours from Waterford (in St. Catherine) and all over the place to come up to JC. It doesn't make sense!" he stated emphatically. "You cannot have a school that is part of a community unless it is serving that community. It is just impossible."

Parents, he adds, should insist that their children attend schools within their community, despite their academic performance. "You've got to start somewhere!" he says.

Chairman of the Holy Trinity school board, Anton Thompson, supports the point. He suggests as a solution that children who do well in their Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) should be sent to the schools of their choice while others are sent to schools situated closest to their residence.

Furthermore, some school board heads are batting for a centralised school board system to address the paucity of leadership/management skills and financial resources at the local level.

"I think everybody in Jamaica recognises that the education system in Jamaica suffers from a resource deficit in many areas," says Dr. Henley Morgan, chairman of Trench Town Comprehensive High. "I think what most persons are aware of is the financial deficit, but there is also a deficit in terms of leadership," he told Gleaner editors.

Inequity in leadership

Dr. Morgan maintains that rural schools, in particular, suffer from inequity in leadership and other resources, and therefore a system of central management would allow schools clustered into a district to share resources and expertise. He says while it would be costly to introduce such a system, the long-term benefits would outweigh the costs.

But Williams and Parchment have concerns about the idea on the grounds that the school district system was more conducive to the American education system and so may not be suitable for Jamaica which lacks several vital resources.

They further argue that establishing a central body could also increase red tape and put more barriers between decision makers.

Parchment suggests for the proposed school district system to work efficiently it must help to foster and maintain loyalty and patriotism to individual schools so they can continue to get some support from their alumni. She counter-proposes the establishment of joint boards that meet about twice a year to discuss issues, noting this would enable local schools to share expertise while maintaining their individual boards.

But Dr. Morgan insists that creating a central board would, in fact, empower schools and bring quality decision making to the local level, adding that school district boards would be responsible for policy creation, management, setting and measuring standards, and sharing expertise.