Alston High principal welcomes resumption of face-to-face classes

Principal of Alston High School in Clarendon, Adrian Sinclair, is ecstatic about the resuming of face-to-face classes. For him, it wasa joy to have his students back in the classrooms.

In an interview with The Gleaner, he said that 50 per cent of the student population came out, with their parents to support them. He said some of the parents spent the entire day at the school to assist in monitoring things.

“It was just refreshing to have them back. We were all anticipating this for a long time and we know the benefits of face-to-face [classes]. Online just cannot accomplish what the face-to-face [interaction] can do, and so we found that the students were very receptive,” Sinclair informed, adding that the students have been conforming to the new protocols.

When asked about the absenteeism of the other 50 per cent students, Sinclair said some of the parents have underlying conditions and were fearful to send their children out, while others were still hesitant about sending their children to school.

OVERCROWDED TAXIS

Resumption of face-to-face classes has brought with it another major challenge for the principal, who said it seems “unmanageable” at the moment – the overcrowding of the taxis transporting the students to school.

“The taxis, they are overcrowding, they just take out eight children and another set go in, and there is no sanistiing,” he said, adding that he intends to have dialogue with the operators, and has already shared his concerns with the Ministry of Education.

Trisha Campbell, principal of Mount Providence Primary School, is hoping that her school will be selected in the next phase of the project.

She said that at first, some of the teachers voiced concerns regarding the few students who would be taking public transport to get to school and how they would be monitored.

“They were reminded that before COVID-19, the students had specific taxis that they took to school, so we just spoke to them and ensure that they would follow the proper protocol in carrying the children,” she said, adding that the teachers are now on board for face-to-face tuition.

Campbell, in pushing for face-to-face classes, said the school is even more prepared, thanks to the kind support of a past student – Christopher Williams, son of a former principal of the school and who now lives in Canada.

The school is equipped with Internet sourced from a private contractor and, according to her, it cost “a pretty penny,” with Williams paying half of that amount.

“He gave us the money to set up [the] Internet [service] from a private contractor ... [it is the] first in history [that] Internet is coming to Mt Providence Primary School. We were able to get approximately 100 of the students in their Google Classrooms who are now actively engaged with their teacher as often as they can manage,” Campbell proudly shared.

In addition, Campbell said parents have been calling her regarding the resumption of face-to-face classes.

However, Campbell’s enthusiasm is not shared by Dianne McFarlane, acting principal of Wood Hall Primary School, who shared that based on what is happening in the space, she is doesn’t think it is the best time for face-to-face classes.

“For me, I will still wait until the numbers are down before I call my students and teachers out for face-to-face. Despite the fact that I have not heard of much cases in the community, I am not sure of that. I have no numbers to prove, but based on what is going [on] around me, I would not want my students and teachers out at this time,” McFarlane said.