HENRY

Sajoune Rose, Gleaner Writer

News of the proposed five additional days to the school year has not been received well by some teachers.

"That's total rubbish, because after June, the children start to get restless," one teacher, Angela Haye-Riley, told The Gleaner yesterday.

She continued, "It would be a total waste of time. It would be like having a nursery."

Ms. Haye-Riley insisted the five additional days would be useless because children often stop attending school by the last week of June, when the school year continues into the first week of July.

In response to the news, Hopeton Henry, president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), was adamant that teachers did not have a problem with an extended school year, provided that certain amenities are improved in the schools to match the facilities of First-World schools, with which Jamaican schools are being compared.

Said he, "I have one condition - if they are going to address the conditions in (our schools) an them with those of Japan, Austria and Switzerland, then we can extend the school year. We don't even reach Third-World status and they are comparing us to First-World countries."

Poor classroom conditions

Mr. Henry argued that children in those countries had air-conditioned classrooms, smaller class sizes and got time to go and sleep. He said that in comparison, the noise level in Jamaican schools was high, the heat was unbearable, some schools experienced rodent infestation and had poor lighting, among other problems.

The JTA head acknowledged that the newer schools that were being built were somewhat different, but those facilities still fell short in meeting the standards of those First-World countries.

He said that an extended school year was a welcome idea, but until the improvements were made to the physical plants, teachers were not ready to accept the suggestion because they were already "working in Hell".