Trench Town Primary fights the odds

Anastasia Cunningham, Senior Gleaner Writer

TRENCH TOWN Primary School was once the pride and joy of the often volatile inner-city Trench Town community in South St Andrew. But in recent years, the 61-year-old institution has been facing extreme challenges that are reflected in the school's poor academic performance.

Opened in 1950, the school is coming from a student population of an impressive high of 2,526 and a staff of 58 teachers. Today, the school is at a mere 176 students - mainly from the community - six teachers, a guidance counsellor and the principal, with an average daily student attendance of 64 per cent.

For the 2009 Grade Four Literacy Test, the school was the poorest performer, with 64 per cent failing, while in the Grade Six Achievement Test, it was the worst performer in all subjects, except communication task, with scores ranging from a low of 32 per cent to a high of 34 per cent.

Principal Merline Sewell-Sullivan lists malnourished students, inadequate resources, poor attendance, dwindling student and teacher population, demotivation, poor security, community violence and theft as the realities the school has to deal with on a regular basis, which undoubtedly affects its performance.

A look at the students across grades one to six speaks to the serious issue of malnourishment. The students are all underdeveloped, with much smaller frames than the average child their age.

"Most days, the only meals most of these children have are the ones they get at school. Sometimes they come to school not eating anything the night before, much less breakfast," said Sewell-Sullivan.

The limited resources of the school, with the help of the Port Authority, allow them to have a breakfast programme only twice per week. And the teachers are the ones who actually come in to prepare those meals.

School-based literacy coordinator, Janice Spencer-Francis, said most of the students do not even have books. In her grade-four class, only six of her 24 students have their prescribed books.

"Most of our parents are single and are not working, and some have so many other children, they just can't afford to buy the books. They live from hand to mouth," said Francis, who has been teaching at Trench Town for the past six years.

School robbed

With the help of the books they get from the Ministry of Education, the principal and teachers have to employ creative means to teach the children.

As if those resource challenges were not enough, last October thieves broke into the school's resource room and stole all their computer equipment with their software, learning programmes, lesson plans - everything that they struggled to put together over the years.

This was a big setback, adding to the frustration faced on a daily basis.

Late and poor attendance is also a major factor. When the morning bell rings at 8, more than half the school population has not reported to school.

"Some of the students are so tired when they finally get here, because they say they had to catch water before coming to school," said Francis. "So many are hungry because they had nothing to eat. They just can't perform under these conditions."

There are students who hardly ever show up for school.

"There is one child in grade six who you can count on one hand the amount of times he comes to school for a term, and this has been the trend ever since he started. Last term, he was only here five times and since the new school term, we haven't seen him," said the principal, who has been marshalling the school since 2001.

"I spoke to his grandfather who said he had no control over it. He said the mother is at the gambling table from morning till night and the children are left to roam and do as they please. And she has five kids that I know of."

Despite the harsh challenges that have threatened the school's survival, Trench Town Primary has managed to beat the odds, winning several awards over the years. From 1995 to 2009, they have earned awards in sports, academics and environmental projects.

In 2002, Sewell-Sullivan introduced the Principal's Award for Most Outstanding GSAT results, which has served to motivate the students to aim for high achievement.

"Despite the challenges and the frustration, we are not giving up," said the principal.

Their resilient spirit is evident, as a walk through the school reveals the fervour with which the teachers apply themselves and the determination of the students to absorb what is being taught.

GLIMMER OF HOPE

Out of the theft of the school's computer resources came a glimmer of hope.

Last October, Trench Town Primary was thrown a lifeline; more than one, in fact.

The school is now part of the USAID's Jamaica Basic Education project; the Digicel Foundation; the Ministry of Education's National Literacy Strategy and Pathway to Literacy programmes; Member of Parliament Omar Davies' Adult Continuing Education programme which provides the school with two voluntary teacher's assistants; and Beacons for Peace & Achievement. Most of these programmes are currently being implemented, while some are in workshop and training phases. Under each programme, the school is being furnished with the necessary resources to improve its performance at all levels.

In addition, the school received two computers from the Area Four police, one from National Commercial Bank, two CPUs from Canadian International Development Agency and a netbook from Digicel.

The Pathway to Literacy programme introduced by the Ministry of Education is a new initiative with a mandate of "100 per cent literacy for the educable population by 2015". It is aimed at improving the literacy level of all students.

Currently in training phase for the teachers, the programme is expected to be implemented this September.

anastasia.cunningham@gleanerjm.com