JISA past president urges cooperation among private schools

WESTERN BUREAU:

PASTOR WESLEY Boynes, a past president of the Jamaica Independent Schools Association (JISA), is warning that private schools must be willing to work together with each other, including sharing resources, if they are to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in salaries being affected.

Boynes, who pastors the Philadelphia Life Centre and is chairman of Northgate High School, both in St Ann, made his pronouncement on Monday while addressing JISA representatives, during a Zoom meeting held as part of the organisation’s annual week of activities.

“One of the implications of COVID-19 is economic constraints, and everybody will feel it. Our parents’ salaries will get smaller, so we have to find a way to collaborate and get along more tightly to get through this crisis,” said Boynes.

Common goal

“We all share a common goal of nation-building. There is a level of competition between schools, but at the end of the day, parents are the ones who decide where their children will go, so we have to swallow our pride and begin to share resources, including sharing the same teachers, the same science labs, and the same music bands,” added Boynes.

The former JISA president warned that private schools, which were forced to close alongside other educational institutions due to the onset of the COVID pandemic in March, will not be able to stand if they try to operate on their own strength and do not cooperate with others.

“The forecasters have indicated that they do not see the planet recovering from the impact of COVID by at least 2025, and they are just guessing based on what they can see right now. Any individual or entity who tries to function by themselves will suffer, and it is only schools who have discovered the power of collaboration that will survive,” said Boynes.

JISA, which represents 150 of Jamaica’s approximately 600 private schools, previously appealed for government aid following concerns that some private schools would have to close their doors permanently due to the financial fallout from the pandemic.

One institution, the Smurfs Early Childhood Centre in Kingston, shut down in June after 31 years of operation.

During a digital press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister in September, Education Minister Fayval Williams said that a one-time offer for private school teachers to receive a one-off payment of J$40,000 and support staff to get J$10,000 was approved by the Ministry of Finance to help private schools cushion the impact of COVID-19.