Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
Maxine Henry-Wilson, Minister of Education, chats with Robert Gregory, president of the Rotary Club of St. Andrew, during the club's weekly meeting at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston, yesterday. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
THE SECONDARY school system needs an extra 5,000 sixth form spaces, says Minister of Education Maxine Henry-Wilson, ahead of an audit into school places to be released next week.
Mrs. Henry-Wilson was making a presentation on the state of education yesterday at a Rotary Club of St. Andrew luncheon at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston.
There was a "big space defect for grades seven to 11", reported the education minister, promising further details next week when the findings of the audit are published.
She said that currently 5,000 students, half the targeted number, are pursuing training in sixth form hence the need for more spaces.
SEVERE IN COASTAL AREAS
The shortage is greatest, she said, in coastal areas especially, in St. Mary and St. James.
"The fact of the matter is that we have a mismatch," explained Mrs. Henry-Wilson, as some schools are overcrowded but others under-utilised. Such schools are hard to close, however, because of the status they give a community, she noted. "It is a political issue to close a school," added the minister.
Turning to the issue of school security, which she noted involved "children bringing things that are not books to school," Mrs. Henry-Wilson said the Attorney-General had ruled only security forces, not school staff, could search students. She is still reviewing the Safe Schools Programme under which police guard schools.
Community assistance, she stressed, was vital with parent-teachers associations sometimes helping restore order on school compounds. More role models are needed for male students, she suggested, given the current level of 7,000 male teachers out of a possible total of 26,000.
