By Damion Mitchell, Staff ReporterTERTIARY AND secondary students from across the island say that poor school facilities, the lack of a proper public transportation system and inadequate educational aids and support services have been preventing many of them from performing well in school.
"And there is also the problem where students have to be cleaning up the school like janitors although there are those people employed to the school," said university graduate Nadine Spencer, relating scenarios she observed as a teacher.
The students were speaking on Monday at a forum dubbed 'Can You Hear Us Now?' at the University of the West Indies, Mona, St. Andrew.
The discussion, which was organised by the National Centre for Youth Development, Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture, was held in observance of 'International Students' Day'.
"I have been in a school where children cry when they are to use the bathroom facilities (because of poor conditions) and that is a shame," said Ms. Spencer.
And, she also said that while schools should reinforce the need for a clean environment, it should not be the duty of the pupils - some of whom are as young as six years old - to be executing janitorial duties.
Additionally, she said first aid items were almost non-existent at these schools in the event that teachers were injured while "on the job."
A MATTER OF PRIORITY
State Minister of Education, Dr. Donald Rhodd, said the matter would be investigated as a matter of priority.
"I was not aware of that and I will have to find out from the management of the schools how wide a problem that is because the school is managed by a board of Governors and the Board is supposed to provide that type of service for the schools," he told The Gleaner in an interview.
However, he said there was no immediate solution to the transportation problem.
"We know that in the rural areas, and in some urban areas, transportation arrangements are not adequate but we have had the experience of starting a school bus system some years ago and it did not work, because the operators abused the system and students did not support it," he said.
"Students prefer to take the taxis and we can't fight that."
He also said that the ministry recognised some of the concerns of the students, and that they would be addressed in a national strategic development plan, which is being formulated.
For his part, Junior Rose, the president of the Jamaica Union of Tertiary Students (JUTS) said that while the Ministry of Education has been doing some 'wonderful work', there was concern that the Government has made a commitment to liberalise the education system without consulting the public first.
"It is an indictment on education," he said, "and they made this decision without public consultation and I am really concerned."
During the forum, the JUTS and the National Secondary Student Council (NSSC) were re-launched and their executive members installed.
