Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

A first-form student and her mother walk past a new block under construction at the José Marti Technical High School, yesterday. The block was scheduled for completion for the start of the new academic year, but that deadline has not been met. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Administrations battled to overcome umpteen challenges as the school year began yesterday with its perennial litany of woes - furniture shortage, incomplete repairs and inadequate space to accommodate students.

At least three schools - Bogue Primary in St. Elizabeth, Bellefield Primary, Manchester, and Penwood High School, St. Andrew - did not reopen yesterday because of incomplete repairs

At Penwood High School, angry parents and citizens of the community blocked the road leading to the school and padlocked the main gate to the institution, saying that the school was in a deplorable condition and was not fit to accommodate students.

Aware of situation

Austin Burrell, the headmaster, told The Gleaner that the institution was in an unacceptable condition with missing window louvres, dangling electrical wires, inadequate furniture and holey roofs.

The principal was unable to say whether classes will be held today. He noted that when he left the school at 2:00 p.m. yesterday, the road was still blocked and the gate padlocked.

He noted that the Ministry of Education and Youth was aware of the situation.

When contacted yesterday, Senator Noel Monteith, State Minster for Education, said the contract for the school repairs had been put to tender.

And, principal of José Marti Technical High School in St. Catherine, Bevar Moodie, told The Gleaner yesterday that not all students will be accommodated at the school on a given day because of an incomplete building. The building is to house some 500 grade seven students.

"We will be staggering the grades seven to nine students because we cannot accommodate all 1,700 students at one time because in the building where the construction is taking place, none of the 17 classrooms are ready," he told The Gleaner yesterday.

Mr. Moodie explained that grade seven student population is about the same size as grades eight and nine together, "so when the grade seven is at school, grades eight and nine will remain home.

"We are planning to have that (the staggering) until the end of September but my instinct is telling me that the building is not going to be ready by then. I am looking at completion sometime near the end of October," he said.

Smooth going

Contacted yesterday, Alphansus Davis, president of the Association of Principals and Vice-principals for Upgraded High Schools, said he did not receive any reports of problems dogging the new school year. "Everything seemed to have been smooth," he said.

However, president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association, Hopeton Henry, said while the start of the school year was much smoother than last year, preliminary checks by the JTA revealed that several schools were without furniture, in need of repair and were experiencing space problems.

Some of these schools include Windward Road Primary and Junior High in Kingston, McIntosh Memorial, in Manchester, and New Green Primary and Junior High, among others.