Starved canteens on lockdown path

Livern Barret, Gleaner Writer

Students returning to school today, following the Easter break, could turn up to find closed canteens at some institutions.

Michael Stewart, the immediate past president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), said several schools closed their canteens before the Easter break and are no longer providing meals for students who depend on PATH because the Ministry of Education has not paid over the grants for the just-completed Easter term.

Stewart told The Gleaner yesterday that as much as 80 per cent of the students in most public schools depend on the programme, adding that there is a huge fall-off in attendance when the canteens are closed.

"We are really concerned as educators and hope that the monies would have been remitted to the various accounts so we can restart the programme tomorrow at the various schools," Stewart told The Gleaner yesterday.

However, Chief Education Officer Grace McLean was adamant that the grants were paid over to all schools in the last week of January.

"There are no issues that have been brought to our attention by any school indicating that they did not receive the funds that were put in their accounts," she said.

"So it is really very surprising to us to get that information at this time," she reasoned.

McLean said if school canteens are closed because they are out of funds, that is not because the ministry did not pay over the grants.

Still, she urged school administrators who are having difficulties providing meals for needy students to contact the ministry for assistance.

"We have fulfilled our obligation, but it is a little more than that. They are our schools and we want to know that the children are being dealt with properly," the chief education officer said.

Meanwhile, one principal admitted that his school received PATH grant in January, but said the $35 per-student-per-day allocation is not enough.

"When we get that, we have to really stretch it to get it to carry them for the full three months because you can't find food for that price anywhere," said the principal based in western Jamaica.

Basil Waite, the opposition spokesman on education, told The Gleaner yesterday he has heard of schools being unable to provide meals to students because of insufficient allocations from the Ministry of Education.

"It has come to my attention that a number of schools have not gotten sufficient money under the programme and I know of instances where principals have had to be rationing the allocations," Waite said.