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Crawford proposes system for students to lobby for change in schools

Damion Crawford and Kenyatta Powell
 
Opposition Spokesman on Education Damion Crawford is suggesting that a system be established for students to lobby for change within the school system.
 
He was responding to concerns raised by parents and students about the dress code being enforced at Godfrey Stewart High School in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland.
 
There was a disruption at the school on Monday following reports of uniform violations.
 
But Mr. Crawford says there should be an amicable solution to issues such as dress code in schools, and a system where students have the opportunity to lobby for change is a step in that direction. 
 
Presuming schools have "reasonable principals and reasonable boards", the spokesman said such a system would ensure student representatives can seek whatever change they want to see in their institution.
 
Where "reasonable" school administrations do not exist, he suggested the Ministry of Education would act as arbiter "to give both sides a voice and to put forward their opinion" before a final decision is made.   
 
Mr. Crawford argued that the current stance where schools say their rules are final and the ministry says its hands are tied, only gives rise to "the assumption that the only way for change is anarchy", which is a dangerous prospect for the Jamaican society. 
 
'Oppressive and draconian'
 
Attorney Kenyatta Powell has described the stance taken by the administration of Godfrey Stewart High School on dress code as oppressive and draconian.  
 
He said school administrators should not be allowed to make arbitrary rules in a modern society, arguing that "The worse kind of indiscipline is when somebody with power has no visible limits on that power and can basically do anything."
 
He criticised the administration for using its power to "terrorise kids" and for apparently believing the school "is this magical place that exists outside of reality in which the length of school girls' uniforms [is] an effective deterrent against adult male predators who are targeting school girls". 
 
Mr. Powell and Mr. Crawford were both speaking Wednesday morning on the Morning Agenda on Power 106.
 


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