Former JTA president supports reopening of schools
MANDEVILLE, Manchester — One of the country’s most senior educators, Dr Garth Anderson, is in support of the Ministry of Education’s decision to reopen schools as he says students have been at a disadvantage since the onset of COVID-19.
“Possibly, I am among few who feel that schools should be opened, once it’s low-risk… because, by ministry reports, we are losing [and] leaving behind so many of our young people,” Teachers’ Colleges of Jamaica dean, Anderson said last week in response to Education Minister Fayval Williams’ announcement last Tuesday that 125 more schools will be allowed to resume face-to-face classes in the next term.
Anderson, who is also president of the Rotary Club of Mandeville, was speaking at the service club’s presentation of a $142,000 cheque and a microwave to Villa Road Primary School in aid of a new canteen there.
The canteen was built to replace one that was damaged following a January 27 fire which left one man dead and four people injured. The new canteen was built in a more secure location on the school compound.
Anderson said serious thought should be given to the decisions made in relation to education in the context of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“What will be the consequences of the decisions that we are now making?” he asked.
“We know that some schools should be reopening soon. If this [Villa Road Primary] is one of them we do hope that when you have your full population, that — as it relates to nutrition — we would have made a significant contribution in that area,” said Anderson, a former president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association.
“With all the challenges that come with the pandemic and the uncertainties and the anxieties that exist, we hope that this [donation] will put a little sunshine into all the cloudiness that exists,” he said.
“We saw it important to support and assist the institution, and it is in that way why we are here. We thank the Rotarians, who contributed significantly, as well as Gateway Pharmacy which donated cash to purchase a refrigerator,” added Anderson.
