Opposition Spokesperson on Education Damion Crawford, speaking at a People's National Party press conference on Wednesday.
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Damion Crawford
The Parliamentary Opposition has strongly criticised the state of readiness of the education system for the new school year.
Addressing a media briefing on Wednesday, Spokesperson on Education Damion Crawford said almost every aspect of the system to allow for a smooth reopening is in disarray.
Mr. Crawford said one the areas of concern is the migration of teachers and the subsequent dilemma this will present for school administrators.
As a result, he appealed for "immediate steps" to be taken to "mitigate against negatives" the system will endure.
He added that long term strategies should be designed to "make Jamaica competitive to our Jamaican teachers" - a move which would allow more of them to stay.
Mr. Crawford said discussions with administrators suggest that the shortage in educators will affect the subject areas of Mathematics, Modern Languages, Science and Technical Vocational.
He noted that late and inadequate furniture, and a shortage of rental books also need immediate action.
According to the spokesman, communication with school principals suggests that "between 20 and 60 per cent of our students will not be able to get all the books due to them on the rental system".
He said parents have also indicated that last year, "some children got none of their rental books" because of the shortage.
Where poor and insufficient infrastructure is concerned, Mr. Crawford said the education sector has always been plagued by this issue which has often been discussed but "seldom acted on".
He argued that the shortage of adequate infrastructure, including classrooms, has reached "extremely drastic" levels going into the new school year.
Sixth Form Pathways Programme
The Government's Sixth Form Pathways Programme, which is to get under way this year, has also come in for criticism from Mr. Crawford.
The opposition spokesman believes the programme is poorly implemented and will add to infrastructure challenges in schools.
Principals, he said, remain in limbo about the requirements, obligations and responsibilities they hold as it relates to the implementation of the programme.
But he also raised further questions about the initiative, including whether attendance would be mandatory, and if so, what repercussions would students face if they do not show up.
He also questioned whether enough had been done to "motivate parents to send children that graduated from fifth form back to school" as well as how schools would address the need for additional teachers to facilitate the increased number of students for the two extra school years.
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