Petrina Francis, Education Reporter
Deserted Elletson Primary School in east Kingston at noon yesterday. - Junior Dowie, Staff Photographer
FOLLOWING THE upsurge in violence on Bryden Street, east Kingston last week, life at the Elletson Primary and Infant School has not returned to normal.
When a Gleaner news team visited the school yesterday, it was an eerie, if not deafening, silence that greeted reporters.
For one, the usual hustle and bustle associated with life at a primary school were absent. There were no sounds of laughter, no banging of desks and chairs.
Outside the gate, except for an old man, and a chicken drinking dirty water from a drain, the street was deserted.
On the school compound, three elderly women were seen huddled over makeshift wooden stalls while peering suspiciously at the world.
NO COMMENT
They made no secret of the fact that they would in no way assist with any information, saying they did not want to be branded as 'informers'.
Last Saturday, six people were shot to death on Bryden Street, causing many residents to flee the community.
A grade one teacher noted that only a quarter of her students have turned out to school since the upsurge of violence in the community.
She said that the environment has been tense and the students' minds are not on work. School is "like a nursery; it's like a safe haven for them", she said.
Meanwhile, a member of the police victim support unit who was on the school grounds, said that the counselling sessions have been encouraging. "But with a cycle, one cannot report on a great success because they (the children) relive the experience of what happened,"
he added.
He continued: "From where we sit, I don't think that one can guarantee the comfort of teachers. Based on our interaction, we could not elicit a confidence (from them) to continue to serve in this environment."
Errol Levy, director of Region One in the Ministry of Education, said the ministry will ensure that all students at Elletson Primary and other schools sit the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) which will be held tomorrow and Friday.
He said, in the event of a problem, students could be shifted to the Jessie Rippoll Primary School in Vineyard Town to sit the exam.
