Commissioner would not be comfortable attending school today

Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

ARGUING THAT school plants are not conducive to learning, Police Commissioner Owen Ellington says a lot needs to be done to improve school facilities to make them more conducive to learning.

"If you go into some of the schools and see how uncomfortable the classrooms are, they are very hot, … I would not be comfortable attending schools nowadays, based on how school rooms look," the commissioner of police said.

He added: "I doubt if I could really attend one hour in a classroom now, as opposed to when I was attending school way back when."

Ellington, who was speaking at a Gleaner Editors' Forum yesterday, recalled that during his school days, school compounds consisted of meadows, trees and the classrooms were properly ventilated.

"The colours that they used to paint the rooms were friendly, decent and nice. Now, any colour that they can beg, they just use it on the wall," Ellington said.

HISTORY IMPORTANT

Dr Grace McLean, chief education officer, told The Gleaner yesterday that the historical context in which many of the island's school buildings were constructed is important in understanding the issue of how those plants now impact learning. She said that increase in population has led to overcrowding in many of those schools.

McLean noted that in February 2009, Jamaica adopted the Child Friendly School (CFS) policy, which was developed by UNICEF. Further, she said the ministry's policy has been to ensure that new school buildings are designed to ensure adequate ventilation and lighting, as well as to ensure that there is adequate space to accommodate 35 students in one room.

"The environment has to be conducive to facilitate effective learning," McLean said. She noted that the CFS speaks to factors such as the colours to be used in classrooms, the need for green space in schools as well as ventilation and lighting.

"We are trying to do all that we possibly can to improve the overcrowding and to change the configuration of our classrooms so that our children can be a bit more comfortable," McLean said.