Gov’t Working to Address Overcrowding at the Primary Level

Minister of Education, Andrew Holness, has said that the Government is working to address overcrowding in primary schools, noting that the population of these institutions should not exceed 1,000.
Giving the main address at the official opening of a computer centre at the Corinaldi Avenue Primary School in Montego Bay on December 10, the Education Minister said that large school populations usually result in large class sizes, reducing the value of the contact between students and teachers, and making the task of the teachers more difficult.
“I am not supporting primary schools in excess of 1,000 students. I think Jamaica has to make that commitment that we have to put a cap on the population of schools,” he stated.
Minister Holness pointed out that despite the fact that many of the primary schools that are overcrowded are doing well, a 1,000-student limit should be suitable for any one such institution.
In response to a request for more classroom space at Corinaldi Avenue Primary, which has a student population of approximately 1,700, the Education Minister said: “we will have to provide more space but not necessarily more space at Corinaldi. We probably will have to build a new primary school elsewhere.”
“My job is not to make your job any more difficult, my job is to find a way to reduce the numbers in this school so that teachers have greater contact time with students,” he added.
He expressed the view that schools with good leaders and good teachers will always produce good results, despite having very limited resources.