St Bess cops concerned as more than 400 students still out of school after Melissa

WESTERN BUREAU:

Superintendent of Police Coleridge Minto, the commander for St Elizabeth, is raising concern about the fact that some 400 students from across the parish have not returned to school since the passage of Hurricane Melissa last October.

According to Minto, who was addressing last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation, the figure was derived from checks conducted by members of the police’s Community Safety and Security Branch at schools across the parish.

“Checks done earlier this week show that approximately 400 children have not returned to school since the passage of Hurricane Melissa,” said Minto.

“This number does not include all the schools in the parish. We went into a couple of schools, a very small sample, and the information we pulled from the administrators indicates that just about 400 students are out of school.”

Minto said the information garnered includes students at both the primary and secondary levels.

“This is a conversation that needs to be taking place in every home, every church, and every organisation about our children who are out of school,” said Minto, who expressed the need for these children to be located, so that arrangements can be made for them to return to school.

He did, however, express an understanding of the situation, saying the devastating impact the hurricane had on communities such as Black River would have played a major role in the students not returning to school.

“There is no doubt that Hurricane Melissa impacted Jamaica and St Elizabeth very hard, to the point where the town of Black River is referred to as ‘ground zero’. Thousands of homes were destroyed, and there is no doubt that this is contributing to why a number of our children are not in school,” he explained, while acknowledging that many parents remain in difficult circumstances months after the disaster.

“Many of our parents are still shelterless. Many of them still do not have electricity and some basic things to survive,” he said.

Despite the challenges, Minto stressed the importance of ensuring the affected students return to the classroom.

“We must do all we can to ensure that we find these 400 children and assist them, so that they can go back to school. In the long run, they are the ones who are likely to suffer the most and, as a country and as a parish, we do not want to see 400 of our children being out of school daily,” he said.

Minto’s comments come a month after Jamaica Prefects’ Association President Nashá Patterson called for urgent, coordinated action to locate and re-engage students who have stopped attending school following the passage of the hurricane.

At the time, Patterson told The Gleaner that reports coming out from Regions 4 (Hanover, Westmoreland and St James) and 5 (St Elizabeth and Manchester) had raised red flags for the student leadership body, with classrooms operating at less than half their usual capacity.

Last week, Minto also used the opportunity to commend school administrators for their efforts to reach students who have not returned.

“I must commend the principals, guidance counsellors, and deans of discipline who have been making the effort to reach out to the students who are not in school,” he said, noting that, in some cases, schools have provided uniforms and school bags to the affected students.

He further revealed that several schools have relaxed their uniform policies to accommodate students who lost belongings during the hurricane.

“Many principals are allowing students to return to school without wearing their standard uniform. They may wear jeans and sneakers, which is not the norm in our culture, but it is to ensure that children who have lost their bags, books, and uniforms can still attend school,” Minto said.

He noted that police patrols have also been assisting schools by visiting communities to help locate the absent students.

In the meantime, Black River Mayor Richard Solomon has described the situation as deeply troubling and called for collective action to address the situation.

“With 400 of our children not in school at this point, it is a very serious concern for us, and whatever can be done to facilitate them going back to school must be done,” Solomon said.

He also commended the police for gathering the related data, describing the effort as a proactive step that goes beyond traditional policing.

“This is more than policing. When we can identify the root causes, it will help stem the challenges that will come further down the road,” he said.

Solomon also pointed to the psychological and financial strain many parents are still experiencing following the hurricane.

“When parents look and see rain falling and water still coming inside their homes, it is a traumatic experience... . It is a hard pill to swallow, knowing that 400 of our youths are not in school.”

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com