WITH her own resources she rescued a school deemed a failed institution. Now, Keisha Hayle is aiming bigger: Her dream is to become a Member of Parliament, and ultimately minister of education.

Hayle, principal of Padmore Primary School in St Andrew West Rural, was confirmed months ago as the Opposition People’s National Party candidate for the Red Hills Division in the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation. However, with everyone in the dark about when the next local government election will be held, Hayle penned her application to the party to represent the four-division constituency of St Andrew West Rural in the next general election due a bit over two years from now.

Indications are that the party is mere days away from confirming her as its candidate for Jamaica’s seat of Parliament – Gordon House – as a recent opinion poll commissioned by the PNP has shown her significantly ahead of incumbent Member of Parliament, the Jamaica Labour Party’s Juliet Cuthbert Flynn.

The history lessons of Hayle’s journey though, according to political observers, need to be taught, consistently.

After a life-threatening illness in 2011 she was called and offered the job of principal of Padmore Primary, following a 10-year stint at her alma mater, Red Hills Primary. She readily accepted, despite her ignorance of the state of the institution. Soon, Padmore Primary was deemed to be a failed institution and plans were being made by the Ministry of Education to shut its doors and throw away the keys.

But a relentless campaign to keep the 38 students intact — which included spending several days in a one-woman protest at the ministry — and to build on that foundation, paid off. Yet, no money was forthcoming from the ministry.

Boldly, Hayle sold her Corporate Area dwelling house at 1 Melrose Avenue for $4 million, and used the proceeds to invest in Padmore Primary in what some called a brave move. Others suggested that she should book an appointment with a psychiatrist at Jamaica’s sole mental institution, Bellevue Hospital. One auditor even said she could have been arrested for using her own money on the school.

Hayle was not daunted. She wanted to make things work for her younger folk.

“I knew I could save it. The school is nice and conducive to learning, and that’s where they should put a high school now. There is even a breakfast programme,” Hayle said in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

Still not satisfied, Hayle advertised her vehicle for sale, at which point the ministry intervened, declined to shut down the school, and asked what it could do to keep the doors open.

It was then that she got some used furniture from another school that had been closed, but still the challenges persisted. And the ministry’s grant of $66,000 every three months to help to run the school that began operating in 1938, including paying an auxiliary worker, was simply not cutting it. That’s when she had to put some of her salary into the daily grind, and introduce ways of getting money into the system that would, among other things, assist with feeding the children.

“I told the ministry that the school cannot be closed, and even if I have to walk and beg I would ensure that it is kept open. I was laughed at initially when I asked for desk and chairs. Luckily, some was later transferred to Padmore.

“I have a clean heart. My mother always told me that I will die a pauper, but even if I die a pauper I will die a happy pauper. I grew up very poor; I have no fear. In 2011 I had aneurysm, my heart stopped beating [and] I was in a coma for a couple days. I overcame that. I fear nothing, no obstacle. God is giving me a chance to find my purpose. Nobody can stop me. I am here for a purpose. That’s why people give me the name Super Woman. They are baffled as to how I do so many things,” said the woman some call sample educator who has been offered countless teaching jobs overseas — in particular North America and the United Kingdom. But despite the higher financial offerings she insists on remaining in Jamaica.

“I am in competition with myself for being a better person than the day before. Marcus Garvey is my mentor; we were born August 17. I had to learn everything about him when I was doing political science at UWI [The University of the West Indies].

“If I had invested that $4 million from the sale of the house in 2011 how much would I have now? But a little Danielle Dunbar wouldn’t attend Campion and get nine subjects, Toni Shae wouldn’t pass for St Andrew High, Dylan wouldn’t pass for Jamaica College and doing so well now… we have to invest in our children.

“I am tired of seeing boys on the roadside digging out the middle of their hands. You know how many of them are bright? Nobody believed in them; some have no mother and no father. I believed in mine and I had to save some of them from the crap that they were going through. I have been down my Damascus Road in education,” said the holder of a Bachelor’s degree in psychology, a Master’s in political science, and 23 years of service under her belt.

“I attended Red Hills Primary, then Meadowbrook High, taught at Red Hills Primary for 10 years,” she continued, “and I have been a trendsetter principal, getting national and international honours. As a principal you are not only a policymaker but a ‘policy taker’.”

Twelve years after her decision to rescue the now 85-year-old Padmore Primary, the school population has grown to 220, all of whom she knows. Of that number, 32 sat the recent Primary Exit Profile examination, and all but two got schools of their choice, with the top performing girl heading to Ardenne High School and the top boy to Wolmer’s Boys’.

And as the climb up the ladder of politics beckons, Hayle will proceed to drive a few more nails and tighten loosened screws so that the device will become firmer.

“My focus on politics is to be a policymaker in education, because education is what is going to take some of these children out of poverty. My ultimate lifetime goal is to become minister of education. With that portfolio I could set things straight,” said the woman who tried her hand at elective politics first in 2018 — a by-election in St Andrew North Western, after incumbent JLP veteran Member of Parliament Derrick Smith retired from politics and left a void. Hayle lost to Dr Nigel Clarke, who is now Jamaica’s Minister of Finance and the Public Service.

Going into battle again in the adjoining constituency is a result of what she calls persistent and consistent calls for her to return to her place of birth.

“They were telling me: ‘You did so well in North West in such a short time, why don’t you come home?’ The people are happy with me around, they know that I am genuine. I will be working with Paul Buchanan [former MP for the constituency] as my campaign manager. And I know that it will take money to run a campaign but, already, donors have come forward with pledges,” Hayle said.

As a mother of three, Hayle has a solid rapport with her two sons — who attended Ardenne High and Wolmer’s Boys’ School — and a daughter at Immaculate Conception High School. They understand the need for her to share her time with the Padmore/Red Hills community, scores of whom often stay at her house; and now, the approach of politics. At one point there were 27 students living at her house, some of whom have emigrated but still keep in touch.

The Super Woman Feeding Programme, designed to accommodate mainly the homeless, elderly and children, and which began at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, continues apace and includes people not only from St Andrew West Rural but St Andrew North Central as well. Recipients are given at least one hot meal each day.

The Keisha Hayle and Friends PEP Scholarship programme, whereby students get assistance with books, fees, and other items, benefits over 100 annually, and more interests are urged to join in supporting the initiative.

Those aside, Hayle believes that she is ready to make the transition from the classroom to Parliament, and has set forth to clear all obstacles that stand in her way.