While hailing the start of the new school year as free of hitches so far, Patrick Phillips, principal of Bog Walk High, said he is deeply concerned about the impact work along the Bog Walk gorge will have on students commuting from Spanish Town and satellite areas to Bog Walk and Linstead.

"I know it's going to create hardship. Parents will have to find more money, especially in this economic crisis, because when the taxis and buses travel through Barry and Sligoville, they charge a little more, so the parents will have to find extra money to foot the taxi and bus fare," Phillips told The Gleaner.

He believes that a number of students who fall within the low socio-economic stratum, who already are beneficiaries of the state-sponsored Programme for Advancement through Health and Education, as well as the school's welfare programme, will be affected by fare hikes.

"We try to give the children lunch and help them with bus fare and so forth, but I don't think that, with this new thrust with the road, we will be able to fulfil all their needs."

On Monday, August 16, the National Works Agency (NWA) advised that only vehicles heading towards Spanish Town would be allowed through the Bog Walk gorge between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. on weekdays.

Motorists heading from Spanish Town to Bog Walk are allowed access from 4-7 p.m. on weekdays. Two-way traffic is allowed at all other times.

According to the NWA, the changes, which will remain in place until January 2011, are to facilitate a major pipe-laying project being undertaken by the National Water Commission.

More furniture needed

During the period of restricted access, motorists have been advised to use the alternative routes of Barry and Sligoville.

In the meantime, Phillips said the school needs more furniture to accommodate the 402 Grade Six Achievement Test students who were placed at the school in June. He indicated, however, that the ministry was in the process of addressing the issue.

The principal told The Gleaner that 237 of the 402 grade-seven students were scoring below 35 per cent in tests.

Said Phillips: "However, this is not unusual. These are the types of students that we've been getting over the years, and so I must commend my teachers and, by extension, the parents who have worked together to ensure that these children perform.

"So at the end of five years, we have children passing up to nine CSEC subjects."

Phillips, a former headmaster of Portmore Community College, asserted, "Newly upgraded high schools, such as Bog Walk, should always be measured in terms of value added, where we got the children and what we've done with them after five years. I think the teachers have done a marvellous job."

Bog Walk High has excelled in a number of areas in recent years, namely the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission Festival of the Performing Arts, TVJ's 'All Together Sing', the 4-H movement, Red Cross, band competitions, as well as the cadet corps.

More than 2,100 students attended the school in the last academic year.