SOME parents of St Jago High School students will now have to make alternative arrangements for their children due to the disruption caused by ongoing renovation works there.

The school has resorted to online learning for second- and third-form students to allow for repair works on its administrative building which was infested with termites. These students will be engaged online for two to three days per week on a rotation basis.

The Ministry of Education and Youth is undertaking the project to repair the roof, which was on the verge of collapsing due to the damage caused by termites. There were some procurement issues which caused the project’s late kick-off, a mere week before the official start of the new school year.

President of the school’s parent-teacher association (PTA) Debbie Pedley Bennett told the Jamaica Observer that while parents are grateful that the school building is being repaired and they understand why it had to be done, they were ill-prepared for this sudden new arrangement, which is expected to remain in place until at least October.

“They did not plan for this… It cannot be good for parents because those parents will now have to find persons to stay with their children, if there is usually nobody at home, so those are the issues that are now coming forward because of the construction. It is good and it is needed because the roof does need repairing, as it was in a bad state, but because of the timing of it, it is causing major displacement for students so it’s not good for any parent right now in the school… Parents are trying to be understanding but it is a major inconvenience,” she said.

Pedley Bennett said the building repairs — which have displaced students, teachers, and administrative staff — have exacerbated the already chronic space shortage at the 279-year-old school in St Catherine which has outgrown its population.

“The school never had enough space to begin with because students… have been having classes under trees, the auditorium was a major part of the school’s use for space for classes. And now, things are packed in the auditorium so therefore that space is no longer available. Because of that, the second- and third-formers will now be going online parts of the week,” Pedley Bennett told the Observer.

She said inadequate space has been a “sore point” at the school for a long time, noting that “every area that could be used was being used for breakout classes” even before the construction started. She lamented that with the construction those spaces are now even more limited.

“There are issues in terms of spacing — the classrooms are overpopulated as it is; there are too many children in the classroom space as it is; the desks are basically back to back,” she said.

Last Friday, St Jago High Principal Collette Feurtado-Pryce told the Observer that she is grateful the repairs are now being undertaken, albeit at an inopportune time which “kind of threw us out of whack”.

“It is an inconvenience but we have accepted it because we are happy that it is being done. It’s just the timing, and we wish that they had started earlier. So we are quite understanding because we want it to be done because our facility, our infrastructure, is in need of improvement and we’re happy that they [the education ministry] have stepped up to really help us at this time but it’s just that they started so late,” she said.

The principal said the situation was explained to teachers, students, and parents, who have all been understanding.

“I was heartened today [Friday, when] I saw my first-form parents come in to fix up, decorate their classrooms for Monday. Our teachers know there will be better days; we are accustomed to it. We’re just hoping — because there are many more things to be done that the ministry needs to do — and we’re hoping that this is the beginning of good things to come, better things to come, where our infrastructure is concerned,” Feurtado-Pryce said.

She said the education ministry, which has “apologised profusely” about the delay, had also promised the school new classroom blocks but there has been a delay with that process.

“We are hoping that it will be prioritised and put on the schedule because that would help tremendously,” Feurtado-Pryce said.