Western schools reopening in stages
Published:Wednesday | January 5, 2022 | 12:06 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Schools across western Jamaica are having their students return to classrooms in phases this term, many having been closed for the better part of the last two years.
Yvonne Miller-Wisdom, principal of the St James-based John Rollins Success Primary School, told The Gleaner on Monday that of the school’s 918 students, approximately 200 from six grades came out for the first day of classes.
“We had the infant class and grades one, three, four, and six out for today (Monday), as well as the special education unit, and grades two and five stayed home,” she said, noting that the school has decided not to have all students report for classes on location daily.
“We did not allow any parents on the compound, so they had to go out by the parking area and wait for their children, and we had to do temperature checks for every child that entered the compound,” she added of other measures implemented due to the pandemic.
“Some persons are saying that they will send their children out next week, as they are watching to see what will happen, and with the spike with COVID-19, some are a bit reluctant. We just have to pray that the situation does not get any worse,” Miller-Wisdom said.
The principal added that the school was in need of more hand-held thermometers to speed up the process of their daily checks to disallow those with elevated temperatures from entering the compound.
Donna Anderson, principal of the Hanover-based Rusea’s High School, noted that while 75 per cent of the school’s senior students – grades 11 to 13 – attended classes on Monday, plans are in place to welcome back the other grade cohorts next week.
“We are still making additional preparations for the students to be here, and we also want to ensure that the parents are given enough time to make the preparations for the students to be back,” Anderson explained.
The Ministry of Education’s announcement for Monday’s resumption of face-to-face classes at 129 schools came just days prior to the new school term.
Ethan Campbell is anticipating the full reopening of the St James-based Adelphi Primary School for face-to-face classes as he believes his grandson learns better in the physical school space.
“My grandchild is not back at face-to-face class now, as normally, it is two days a week that he goes to school, and he does online school otherwise. I think he is better when he is at physical school, since he picks up the learning quicker,” said Campbell.
Despite efforts by school administrators to abide by COVID-19 regulations, there are concerns that schools could become potential superspreader zones for the virus, with the island having a 48.4 per cent positivity rate on Sunday.