Education in a constant state of crisis
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THE EDITOR, Madam:
Since 2020, Jamaica’s education system has not experienced a series of separate disruptions. What began with the COVID-19 lockdown has flowed into hurricane destruction, rising cost-of-living pressures, and now fuel instability linked to geopolitical tensions in Iran.
This pattern raises an uncomfortable but necessary question: is the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information (MOESYI) and the wider system managing these situations using clear crisis management principles, or are we simply reacting each time and hoping resilience will carry us through? During the COVID-19 lockdown, schools abruptly shifted to emergency remote teaching (ERT). Many students didn’t have devices, reliable internet access, or quiet spaces to learn. Teachers carried the burden of rapidly adapting content while managing their own anxieties.
Then came the hurricanes. Schools, particularly in western Jamaica, suffered severe infrastructural damage. Months later, several of these institutions are still not fully repaired. Students in examination years are understandably prioritised, but this leaves those in Grades 7–10 experiencing prolonged periods of disrupted or reduced engagement.
Now, rising fuel prices have prompted discussions about the possibility of returning to work-and-learn-from-home but, have we addressed the digital inequities? Have we put structures in place to support teachers who have been in sustained crisis mode for five years? Have we considered what this means for students who rely on school feeding programmes and support through initiatives such as the PATH for daily nutrition and learning resources?
After Hurricane Melissa, the divide between eastern schools that continued relatively uninterrupted and western schools still struggling to rebuild, illustrates how recovery failure creates national inequality. The prioritisation of examination students, though practical, creates internal inequity within schools. The unresolved digital divide means that any return to remote learning will once again disadvantage the most vulnerable. Meanwhile, procurement processes and administrative procedures seem ill-suited for the urgency that genuine emergencies demand.
Jamaica is geographically and economically vulnerable to crises. This reality is unlikely to change. What can change is how strategically we plan for the inevitability of disruption. Public consultations and surveys about teacher readiness to go back to ERT are a start, but they cannot substitute for a comprehensive crisis management framework that ensures continuity of education without leaving the most vulnerable behind.
At some point, constant reaction becomes exhausting. If education is to stop existing in a permanent state of crisis, the approach must shift from reactive survival to proactive crisis governance.
The Ministry of Education should use their resources wisely to problem-solve how education sector can continue through crises while addressing the inequities.
DELTA WRIGHT