Parents welcome end of shift system at Grange Hill Primary School
Administrators working to cushion teacher shortfall in Westmoreland
Published:Wednesday | September 6, 2023 | 12:07 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
ADMINISTRATORS FROM the Ministry of Education and schools in Westmoreland have admitted to countering the effects of teacher resignations, as the new school year began on Monday.
Godfrey Drummond, president of the Westmoreland arm of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association, told The Gleaner that a number of the schools were facing staffing issues in light of the resignations.
“A few are not fully staffed, as some schools have gotten late resignations,” Drummond revealed.
He added that they had to merge classes to cushion the effects of the teacher shortage.
Drummond also noted that most of the schools that opened on Monday were at the primary level, and that most of the secondary schools scheduled their reopening for later in the week.
Among the primary institutions, parents and administrators at Grange Hill Primary School in Westmoreland are pleased to have turned a new page in terms of the amount of contact time students will have with their teachers as of this academic year, with the abandonment of the two-shift system.
The school, which will celebrate its centenary next January, opened its doors to 800 students when the 2023-24 academic year commenced on Monday.
“I would say we are 90 per cent prepared. We have recently piloted the whole-day [contact time] system and we are kicking off today on a whole-day basis, moving from the shift system,” principal Clayton Smith told The Gleaner.
Admitting that there is a need for additional furniture, Smith said he will be using those he has until the new allocation arrives from the Ministry of Education and Youth.
“We certainly need some more furniture. We have some old ones that we are going to make-do with until the government provides the new furniture that we are going to need,” he said.
Smith also noted that like many other schools, he would have lost teachers this year by way of resignations.
“We have almost a full staff complement of teachers. We had some resignations; some persons moving away due to migration and for work purposes. However, we’ve had some teachers coming,” he explained. “And of the four teachers that have left us, we have replaced three already, and we are hoping that we will find a replacement for the next one.”
He also shared that late registration was a feature at Grange Hill Primary, as some parents operate on a last-minute basis for various reasons, and because they recognise them as part of the school’s family, Smith said they were accommodated.
Marie Barnaby, mother of twin boys, welcomed the full-day school system, especially now that she no longer has to pay excess taxi fare to get them to and from school.
“This new system will certainly mean that my sons will be having more time at school with their teachers. And as a parent, it also gives me more time to carry out more home duties,” Barnaby said.
Kedisha Bent, a parent from the Grange Hill community, said: “The learning opportunities will be greater with this new system. The double-shift system had a lot of logistics issues with transportation, as they would prefer to carry the adult first,” Bent told The Gleaner.
Odane Munroe is happy that his children are back in school, and shared that the double-shift system was overwhelming.
“The two shifts were a little pressuring on the children and on us as parents, so we welcome the full-day school,” he said.
Over at Grange Hill High, there were orientation activities, and only the grade-seven students were out in good numbers.
According to Trevine Donaldson-Lawrence, the newly-appointed principal, “Based on where we are in terms of readiness for the 2023-24 academic year, I would say we are about 95 per cent there.
“In terms of deliverables, we would have had a few resignations, six on record so far. One has since been filled, and we are now seeking to fill the other vacancies,” Donaldson-Lawrence added.
However, she said a teacher shortage will not be allowed to affect students’ learning opportunities.
“In spite of that, I am not seeing where the shortage will affect teaching and learning, because we are trying to find creative methods to fill those gaps,” the principal explained.
She noted that for the rest of this week the school will be doing orientation.
“We are taking them grade by grade, where we have a one-on-one with our teachers, students and their parents. We are also administering a few assessment tests ahead of a full teaching and learning experience next Monday,” Donaldson-Lawrence said. “And we have adequate furniture to accommodate our students and other staff members.”