Principals Reminded Not to Turn Away Students

As the new school year approaches, Principals are being reminded not to turn students away from school due to grooming issues.

The reminder was given by Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams, at the recent Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) Conference, held at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny.

Mrs. Williams emphasised that Principals must hold consultations with parents regarding the issue of students’ grooming.

“The issue of locs in schools, of wearing your natural hair, all of those are going to confront us come September 2. We are still insisting that no child should be locked out of school because of issues with dress and grooming,” the Minister said.

“There ought to be a process in place within our schools for consultation, for talks with the students and their parents. We know that these are difficult situations in our schools, but I have every faith and confidence that together we can tackle those and have a successful school year,” she added.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Williams outlined to the teachers that a partnership between the JTA and the Ministry is “a good thing”, as it augurs well for the flourishing of the education sector.

She added that the Ministry is aware of the magnitude of work needed to improve the sector.

“We are guided now by the Jamaica Education Transformation Commission Report, which is a very public report. It is on our website, and it has been laid in Parliament and in the Senate. It spells out in a very granular way all the recommendations that we should be implementing in order to improve the education system and education outcomes of our nation,” Mrs. Williams said.

She pointed out that the report consists of some 365 recommendations from stakeholders in the sector.

The 60th annual JTA conference was held from August 19 to August 21 to discuss issues within the sector and to swear in the organisation’s new President and officers.