Teachers lobby to end shift system
Published:Wednesday | May 18, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Keisha Hill, Gleaner Writer
Several school administrators are calling on the Ministry of Education to intensify its efforts to rid the education system of the current shift system.
These administrators say it is undoubtedly a blight on primary and secondary education and a stop-gap measure that has long outlived its original purpose of reducing class size, and of providing seats for children in single-session schools that were grossly overcrowded.
Principal of the Edith Dalton James High School, Ray Howell, said the ministry is not expediting the process to get schools that are on the shift system removed. He said classroom space is overutilised at the institution, and it creates negative situations for students and the administration, including loss of class time and school furniture.
"We at Edith Dalton want to move out of the shift system. Currently, we need about 16 to 18 new classrooms. We have 1,410 students and we run three shifts. On the shift system, the student loses on average a day per week. The school year is 40 weeks, on average, and the difference between our school and other schools is that we lose an hour per day."
According to Howell, the institution was built for grades seven to nine, and with the addition of grades 10 to 11 no additional space was created. The former Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) president said while Education Minister Andrew Holness has the best of intentions, they are at a disadvantage.
"Because of the shift system the lunch hour is shorter. It goes for 30 minutes while the curriculum support, such as extra-curricular activities, is non-existent. At 12 p.m. we have to try and get the other shift out so that the other shift can utilise the school premises," Howell said.
same elsewhere
A source at Glengoffe High School in St Catherine said a similar situation exists there. Nestled in the hilly terrain of St Catherine, the school has two shifts, from 7 a.m. to noon, and the second shift commences at noon and ends at 5 p.m.
"We do not like it because it cuts down on teaching time, and it gives the children too much free time, a whole half-day. If the shift system is phased out the time allotted for periods could be increased, and we could have the days going a little longer. There are times when we could include more on the curriculum offering, perhaps adding a few more subjects," the source said.
Howell also said while the school is waiting on the ministry to assist them, they have been undertaking their own development plans so that by 2012-13 they can be off the shift system.
"We asked the ministry over the past year or two to assist us in putting up the additional classrooms. They have assisted us with two, and we have also asked them to do technical drawing for another 12 classrooms and to finish the other three classrooms that we have started," Howell said.
In 2008, Holness said the shift system did not benefit the education system and plans were in place to have it removed over a five-year period. The minister had said the plan was to build 100 schools, from a US$100-million fund that was to be established by members of the diaspora.
However, to date, according to data received from the ministry, of the 113 schools on the the shift system only 17 have been removed since 2007.
President of the JTA, Nadine Molloy-Young, said while some schools tried to extend the school hours to facilitate the students they are met with numerous challenges.
Molloy-Young said the shift system needs to be phased out and, like Howell, has called on the ministry to accelerate the process.