JAPSS concerned about school repairs, teacher shortages out west
Published:Tuesday | September 3, 2024 | 12:09 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
While stating that the 2024-2025 school year started well in western Jamaica yesterday, the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (JAPSS) says some high schools in western Jamaica are still dealing with infrastructural repairs and a lack of teachers in critical subject areas.
Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, JAPSS President Linvern Wright, who is the principal of William Knibb Memorial High School in Trelawny, said his school, Manning’s School, in Westmoreland; and Munro College, in St Elizabeth; were among the schools with incomplete repairs from damage done by Hurricane Beryl.
“At William Knibb, what happened is that when the surveyors came to do the survey of damage from the hurricane, they found that there were serious infrastructure issues, especially with the roofing. They ended up signing a contract for some work to be done here to the roofing. So more than 50 per cent of the school is being reroofed and resealed, and some electrical works are being done,” said Wright.
“There are some schools that we knew, given the magnitude of the damage they had, that they would not be 100 per cent ready for Monday morning. Manning’s School is one, Munro College is another, and Hampton School, in St Elizabeth, have started their repairs, but the fact is that there is still some level of disruption,” noted Wright. “We have worked out a phased reopening to bring the students in, and most of us are talking with the contractors and the project managers and have worked out how we will get things going, so the situation is not desirable, but it is manageable.”
Education Minister Fayval Williams had previously announced that independent quantity surveyors would be brought in to assess the damage that several schools suffered from the passage of Hurricane Beryl on July 3. Of the 1,009 public schools that were impacted, 352 suffered extensive damage.
WORST-AFFECTED SUBJECTS
Regarding the lack of teachers for specific subjects, Wright said that mathematics, English, and several industrial arts subjects are among the worst affected.
“Some schools are still struggling to find teachers for particular subject areas, but we hope that by next week or the week after, we will have slotted in the persons we need. I realise that mathematics is a problem and also the industrial arts areas, especially electrical engineering and mechanical engineering,” said Wright. “Music and art are areas that we are struggling with, and English seems a little tight, too, but it seems most people are getting by with that one.”
Wright was not able to immediately identify which schools in western Jamaica are having teacher shortages.
Checks in the Classified Ads section of The Sunday Gleaner of September 1 revealed that out of 35 advertisements for teaching positions at different schools, Munro College, Holland High School in Trelawny, and Belmont Academy in Westmoreland were, up to that time, seeking teachers for subjects to include English language and English literature, electrical and electronic technology, mathematics, and social studies.