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Prime Minister Andrew Holness - file photo
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Owen Speid
President of the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA), Owen Speid, is urging the government to proceed cautiously in changing the dress code for students.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared last week that changes will be introduced stemming from the firestorm sparked by the decision of Kensington Primary School to bar a student from wearing dreadlocks at the institution.
The Supreme Court declared that the child's rights were not breached.
In an interview with Radio Jamaica News on Tuesday, Mr. Speid warned that significant changes to the rules could lead to indiscipline in schools.
"We want to ensure that whatever changes are made to the rules, that they serve to accommodate good grooming because we can't just have a kind of anything goes in schools, because schools are places where we are supposed to be training the young minds. We just have to be very careful how we approach the whole thing of changing the regulation because we know that we are in a very indisciplined society and the moment you give them and inch, they will want to take a whole mile. And so the government of Jamaica must be careful," he cautioned.
He said the JTA is ready to meet with the authorities to discuss the proposed changes.
In the meantime, the JTA president urged school administrators to engage in more dialogue with parents and even students in order to settle disputes.
"We need to look at consultations, we need to look at mediation on a broader picture rather than running to court and things getting out of hand," he suggested.
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