Fri | Mar 29, 2024

High turnout in St Thomas, but schools grapple with chair shortage

Published:Tuesday | March 8, 2022 | 12:08 AMShanna Monteith/Gleaner Writer

While schools in St Thomas report high student turnouts for the first day of the full resumption of in-person teaching since 2020, there is a common concern among administrations: the lack of sufficient seating.

The administrators shared that much of their furniture has been damaged by termites, as the buildings were mostly closed for the last two years as classes moved online.

Among schools in St Thomas that are reporting shortage of chairs are Seaforth High, Morant Bay High, Morant Bay Primary, and White Horses Primary.

Seaforth High recorded an attendance rate of approximately 90 per cent on Monday.

“We started full face-to-face today and we are doing great. The students have turned out in their numbers,” Calbert Thomas, the principal, said in a Gleaner interview.

“The only glitch for some classes is chairs. We are short on furniture, but we are working on it.”

Thomas disclosed that he has sought assistance from neighbouring school Yallahs High, which has committed to providing additional chairs to the institution.

In an effort to address the seating shortage at Morant Bay High, acting principal Marsha Ford-Bryan said the school has been transferring underutilised chairs from classrooms to facilitate other sessions.

“We really can’t continue like this for the rest of the week. I’m not sure what we are going to do, but in the meantime, we have a few in storage,” Ford-Bryan said of the furniture crisis.

“We will be checking on their conditions to see how best they can be salvaged,” she added, noting that the issue was formally reported.

Vice-principal of Morant Bay Primary, Devmarie Blake-Brown, has a similar cry.

In fact, she admitted that the lack of seating is the only concern of note faced by the school.

“Some of the benches are termite-infested, but apart from that, attendance has been good. About 80 per cent of the students are present, and everybody is in uniform and mask, all looking immaculate,” she said, adding that the students have been observing the coronavirus protocols.

The Ministry of Education had earlier pledged to provide schools with funds in excess of $400 million to offset costs associated with the full resumption of face-to-face classes. The ministry had also committed to procure and deliver, on request, furniture to schools.

With the full complement of staff and about 84 per cent of his student cohort present, principal Ray Howell anticipates an even more improved turnout at White Horses Primary School as the week progresses. He reported that 351 of the 418 students on roll attended school on Monday.

The White Horses administrators have taken the initiative to repair some of the damaged furniture, but said that assistance is needed.

“The ministry had promised to give schools in need some furniture, so we are hoping that procedure will be expedited,” he said.

shanna.monteith@gleanerjm.com