JAPSS president slams ‘political myopia’ in education debate
Published:Tuesday | August 12, 2025 | 12:13 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Linvern Wright, president of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (JAPSS), is accusing both the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) of “political myopia” in highlighting concerns about their approach to addressing the country’s education challenges.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Wright said that while proposals such as a national school bus service and an extended schoolday for struggling students had merit, they lacked a coherent policy framework to ensure access and substantial quality.
“Both the bus initiative and the extended schoolday for struggling children are, in principle, good ideas,” Wright wrote. “But neither was part of a coherent policy framework that guaranteed access and quality in education .... they inevitably fell victim to the wrath of tribalism.”
Daryl Vaz, the minister of science, energy, telecommunications and transport, while speaking during a recent St Ann North East divisional conference of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), announced that 110 school buses would be rolled out in September as part of a rural school transport programme. He added that should the JLP be returned to office, the initiative would feature an app for parents to track their children’s travel and a flat $50 fare.
In late July, Senator Damion Crawford, the Opposition’s spokesman on education, proposed adding two hours to the schoolday, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., saying it would help create an extra layer to the teaching-learning process as help to ensure the students are properly supervised in the window between the time they traditionally leave school and their parents come home from work. He said the proposal would include paying teachers for the extra time.
“Through remuneration, not for free, teachers, we will seek to extend the schoolday, because many of our children are going home without adult supervision at 2:30 p.m.,” said Crawford
Days after Crawford’s pronouncement, the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), through its president, Dr Mark Smith, firmly rejected the proposal, saying it was addressing the wrong issues and also failed to tackle chronic underfunding.
“We seem obsessed with always trying to create a sophisticated rat trap, when the problem we really have is a roach problem,” said Smith, in arguing that targeted interventions within the current school hours would be more effective.
With both the new rural school bus system and the extended schoolday generating much traction on the political campaign trail, Wright, who is also the principal of William Knibb Memorial High School, in Trelawny, argued that both major political parties have failed to demonstrate a clear, long-term commitment to education reform.
“The PNP hardly seemed to have consulted much on a good idea; hence, the teachers rejected it,” said Wright. “A good bus system is needed, but I sense that the JLP has not recognised that Jamaicans are past being impressed with American used stuff. Additionally, the all-island (school bus) tours have become a joke, as the Government has used its privilege to taint a great idea.
“I hope at some point, when the intoxicating season of elections is over, both ideas will become part of a broader policy that helps to see education advance.
“The truth is, the present Government has done little to improve education, and the Opposition has said little to offer hope... . I’m not even upset ... just disappointed with this political myopia.”