More schools transition off shift system

By Lorraine Mendez    

 

The start of the 2024/25 academic year brought with it a new beginning for Ocho Rios Primary, after it became one of the latest schools to be removed from the shift system.

 

Speaking at the school on Monday morning during a ceremony to commemorate the milestone, Education Minister Fayval Williams said three other schools will transition to single shift this year. 

 

"This year, Ocho Rios Primary School will be joined by Naggo Head Primary, Bridgeport High, and Papine High in the transition of the shift system. Achieving these four schools will mean that by the end of this year, we will have only 27 schools left to de-shift. We are coming from 38 when I sat in the chair at the Ministry of Education and Youth September 2020," she pointed out. 

 

A parent, Debbie-Ann Henry, said teaching and learning outcomes are expected to improve, now that the students will have more contact hours at school. 

 

"When they come to school now, it's hurry up for four and a half hours, we have to make way for the other students to come. And so, we want to...show you our gratitude for making this now a relaxed, unhurried environment where students can come and they can sit, and the teachers are able now to do a better assessment of the students and to identify where the learning deficits are and address them properly." 

 

The school has been operating with a shift system since 1998.