Letter of the Day | Time to rein in our principals

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Recent incidents at several Jamaican high schools have led me to question the unchecked power of principals. A viral video showed a McGrath High School student claiming his principal locked him out of school due to untrimmed hair. Even after complying, he laments that he was denied entry and sent home. In April 2024, the principal of St James High School expelled two girls caught kissing on video. At Godfrey Stewart High School in 2022, students were barred from entering because their uniform skirts did not meet new length regulations. In 2019, Spanish Town High School students were locked out in the pouring rain, and a 2018 Gleaner report noted that students from several schools were denied readmission after prolonged absences.

Does the Ministry of Education have authority over principals, or are principals free to act as mini despots at taxpayer-funded schools? Such actions blatantly disregard a 2015 ministry directive forbidding administrators from restricting access to school compounds. How can principals demand that students adhere to school rules while they flout ministry guidelines? Are irony and hypocrisy dead?

It is likely that these violations disproportionately harm poor, black students from lower socio-economic background, the very group that can least afford to lose instructional time. These students are less likely to have wealthy or educated parents who can threaten to hire a lawyer to secure their rights. If similar actions occurred in white-dominated societies, they would likely be deemed racist.

Principals should not have the power to bar students from classes except in cases where they pose a threat to the school community. We need legislation making it illegal for principals to expel any student from school. The authority to ‘transfer’ a student from one school to another must reside solely with the Ministry of Education. There are numerous alternatives, including suspension, to ensure compliance with school rules without violating students’ constitutionally guaranteed right to education.

The time has come to enforce clear limits on principals’ power. Those who disobey and defy ministry directives, and thereby contribute to the academic failure of the nation’s most vulnerable students, should face demotion or dismissal. Allowing the current outrageous situation to persist is detrimental to students and undermines the nation’s development.

XANDER J. BROWN

Educator