Thwaites concerned about underpopulation at several schools

By Vernon Davidson79,000 Unused school spacesJUST over 79,000 unused spaces are available in the island's public schools, Education Minister Ronald Thwaites revealed yesterday.Thwaites provided the data during an early morning meeting with journalists at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston and suggested that the figures justify a serious examination of geographical zoning of schools. According to the data, 1,334 free student spaces are available in 14 infant schools; 44,935 spaces exist in 412 primary schools; 11,626 spaces in 70 all-age schools; 13,982 in 69 primary and junior high schools; 6,007 in 29 secondary high schools; 973 in four technical high schools; and 283 in two agricultural high schools.The minister also argued that based on the data — compiled from the annual schools census in October 2012 — there needs to be a serious discussion on the mechanism to be used to fill these underpopulated schools.Last night, Jamaica Teachers' Association President Clayton Hall said that while he could not verify the data, he was aware that there are schools with excess spaces, but that, he insisted, resulted from the education ministry's policy of not placing students in the seven to nine departments of all-age and junior high schools."I am not sure if it would be feasible or even desirable to move students into these areas," Hall told the Jamaica Observer. "Most of these areas are rural areas where the population shifts have rendered these schools almost obsolete."He said that while the spaces do exist, there are significant challenges in some areas. "For example, between Manchester and St Catherine we are in desperate need for school spaces, especially at the secondary level."To make his point, Hall highlighted Spanish Town where he said seven high schools — Jose Marti, Innswood, Eltham, St Jago, Jonathan Grant, Spanish Town, and St Catherine — are all within close proximity."All these schools are running over 2,000 [students]," he said, adding that four of them — Spanish Town, Jonathan Grant, Innswood, and Eltham — operate a two-shift system.In relation to the issue of zoning, Hall said that there are no challenges at the primary level. "What happens is, not all schools are created equal, and when you have inherent deficiencies in the physical structure of the school, the offerings of the school, the programmes the school is able to run, you are going to find out that it is going to be difficult to zone it, because you are not providing equality of opportunity," he said.Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/79-000-UNUSED-SCHOOL-SPACES_14304736...