By Petrina Francis, Education ReporterTHE JAMAICA Teachers' Association (JTA) said yesterday that the Ministry of Education's decision to extend the school year because of a forced holiday brought on by damage done to some institutions by Hurricane Ivan, is insensitive.
Apart from the damage to some facilities, schools, which are used as shelters , closed two days before the hurricane hit the island two weeks ago, and some are yet to reopen fully. Most were closed for at least seven days because of a lack of potable water and electricity.
However, the JTA asserts that the decision to extend the school year should be left up to the individual schools.
MAKE-UP DAYS
In a letter to school boards and principals, dated September 21, the Ministry noted that the make-up days will result in an omission of the mid-term holiday which was scheduled for Friday October 16 and a breaking for the Christmas holidays on December 17 instead of December 10.
However, Wentworth Gabbi-don, president of the JTA, told The Gleaner yesterday that hurricane is a natural disaster and teachers did not stop from school because they wanted to and therefore should not be penalised for it.
When asked for suggestions, he said the Ministry needs to speak with the board chairmen and principals and allow the institutions to decide on the time they need to make-up. "You can't have a general policy," he noted.
Meanwhile, Senator Noel Monteith, Minister of State in the Education Ministry told The Gleaner that while no one is to be blamed for the loss of the school days, it is important to have the make-up days because the education system is already operating on a system where children are not performing up to par.
He noted that the letter explicitly allowed for flexibility based on the number of days that were lost.
