‘Where do we put the children?’

Education Minister Fayval Williams says she will not be quick to jump at the recent recommendations from the Early Childhood Commission (ECC) to sack three principals heading government-operated institutions over their “flagrant disregard” for the established standards of the Ministry of Education.

Following their latest assessment, the ECC asked Williams to also shut down 68 delinquent schools it said are in violation of Section 3 (1) of the Early Childhood Act, which bars unregistered early childhood institutions (ECI) from operating in Jamaica.

ECC Chairman Trisha Williams-Singh, in a March 15, 2022 letter, urged the education minister to exercise her authority to shut down any institution believed to be endangering children, saying that the continued operation of these schools puts children at risk of injury or death.

Yesterday, Williams told The Gleaner that the Government is responsible for about 20 per cent of the sector, and 80 per cent of the ECIs need to be modernised and move up the ladder in terms of the 12 operational standards set for them, with which they have to comply.

She said that the ECC wrote to her outlining some of the issues based on research and, while she said they are being taken seriously, the minister noted that she has to follow a process before taking action.

“It is not as if we get this letter and then we run out and act right away. For example, for those institutions that they would have recommended closure for, before we do that, we have to think about what’s next. Where do we put these children if we are closing down this entity?” Williams said. “Our policy has been [that] the Early Childhood Commission’s policy has been to work with entities to get them registered, to move from registration to begin to understand and take on the standards and get up to standard.”

On Wednesday, Pindar’s Valley Primary and Infant principal Omar Thomas, who was accused of being repeatedly absent from the school where an unhinged restroom door is alleged to have fallen on an ECC inspector during a visit, said repairs were ongoing.

Despite not seeing the report from the ECC’s assessment, which was launched on Wednesday, he said the commission may have erred in recommending closure or a change in leadership.

Principal of Moore’s Infant Department, Wendy Miller-McKoy, said the ECC’s recommendation “is nothing more than politics”, adding that her institution remains unregistered because of the ECC’s lethargy, as it has been compliant with most of the standards and she said that in the areas it fell short, steps are being taken to address the challenges.

Valrie Brown, principal of St George’s Girls’, which is said to be operating above student accommodation capacity and is in breach of the ECC’s health and safety standards, declined to comment when contacted.

The ECC also raised concerns over Region Two ECIs in the parishes of Portland, St Mary and St Thomas, but Williams noted that there are unique issues which cause those schools to underperform.

“Yes, in rural areas, they have some peculiarities in terms of the distance between the institutions and the children they serve in neighbouring communities, and so on. So, as I said, I will be the first to admit that there is a lot of work to be done in the early childhood sector to modernise it,” Williams told The Gleaner.

“We see that there are still many things to be done. Many institutions still to get themselves registered; many still to get up the ladder in terms of the standards that are set out, so there’s a lot of work still to be done,” she added.

Williams said that she was delighted that the ECC took on the task to update the country on where the island was in terms of the early childhood sector, adding that it has done a good job moving the sector along since it was established two decades ago.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com