President of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), Dr. Mark Smith, says the proposal for an extension of school days by two hours to address the crisis in education has merit, if it is focused on specific areas.
Opposition Senator Damion Crawford, who has put forward the proposal, says participation in the extended school day would not be free, as teachers would be compensated for the added hours.
Speaking with Radio Jamaica News on Tuesday, Dr. Smith said he would not support a broad implementation of the initiative.
"So you move to a community-based solution. If it is a community has a challenge as it relates to parents not being able to put in place childcare to monitor their children after school, that is something the PTA, the school, the principal, the teachers would signal and say, is it something that would work? If the government is willing to fund such a model and it is voluntary, I have no challenges with that. But... I reject staunchly any idea of extending the schooling; we do not support that broadly," he stressed.
Dr. Smith said targeted interventions in schools that are most in need would have the greatest degree of impact on the education sector. He suggested that the discussion should be around a shift toward providing schools with adequate funding to be able to implement initiatives.
"For too often the initiatives in schools are actually funded by the schools, which means they have to be doing fundraisers. Too many of our educators are involved in fundraising activities to fund many of these initiatives. We have some schools in which up to 50% of the children come to the school reading below the required level. We need strong intervention at the primary level because we know it costs us 10-times more to do remedial work at the high school level," the JTA president pointed out.
Stewart Jacobs, President of the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ), has also suggested that stakeholder meetings be held on the proposed extension of school days.
Mr. Jacobs said a holistic approach to the issues affecting the education sector is recommended in the Orlando Patterson led Reform of Education report, released in 2021.
"Anything at this time to add value to our education system is welcomed. And what Senator Crawford has proposed is one that can be looked at. We need to look at the cost of it and how to tie into what it is that currently exists. What I do like about it is that there's some thought in it, there's some thinking and I like the fact that both sides of the political divide are now putting education at the forefront, as it ought to be. And so this one is something that can be looked at, can be studied a bit more," he suggested.