YES it’s back to school time again. Or as we say in Jamaica, free paper bun! Most parents are biting their fingernails down to the nub, trying to figure out where the money is going to come from to finance the return to school, after all the summer gallivanting. For some the worry is not financial, it is the having to once again deal with the daily homework and exam preparation rituals involved with schooling that scares them the most. Many teachers, especially those who were vacationing (some with ‘domestic’ pay) overseas, are not so thrilled to be going back to the classroom’s doldrums with some of these tough-headed children and their equally tough-headed and aggressive parents. And don’t think for a minute that students are excited about the start of the school term either. After that new book, new clothes, new environment smell has worn off within the first week, anxiety, depression and the long wait ’til Christmas vacation grabs hold of the majority of them.

I feverishly await the annual reports from the media houses about our schools being in a poor state of repair and that the teachers’ salaries are not up to snuff, blah, blah, blah. Every year the same story, this time I hope I’m wrong. As if! I can only pray for that day my dears, when somebody in a position to do so, makes education a priority. Wishful thinking I know, but from where I’m sitting, school preparedness is meted out with the same treatment as gutter cleaning. Only when the storm is almost on top of us, does it become an issue. Blame gets cast everywhere, and all that happens is one bag of meetings to argue fruitlessly about who should have done what and why it wasn’t done. Gimme a break! It is akin to a broken record. Why not just save the headline templates from last year and reprint them. Because we know the story will be the same. What never ceases to amuse and amaze me is that nowadays mommies and daddies start the back-to-school shopping in reverse. By that I mean the limited budget is apportioned from the least important component upwards, rather than the other way around. Me out deh, me see what a gwaan. The haberdashery/fabric stores are filled to capacity with people, whilst the book stores and banks, not so much. Junior and Shantelle school uniform sort out from early, one for every day of the week. New shoes and school bag fly in from foreign long time, crisp not a biscuit. The school fee and the book list, kind of have to settle for what’s left. Every year some immaculately dressed children are on the brink of being sent home with their empty book bags, because mommy or daddy preferred fashion over style, as the late dancer Bogle would say.

That’s why mi give thanks for my mumma and puppa who had their heads screwed on right. They got my books first; paid the school fees; looked to see if last year’s uniform can ‘lek out’ anymore; pree if the shoes could hold out one more year with a quick fix from ‘Shoey’, and wash last year’s bag and I was ready good to go. My appearance was the least of their problems, but mi know oonu ago tell me that ole fashion. No wonder our children are doing so well in schools. Give the youths a chance, set the right foundation.

elvachatalot@yahoo.com or follow back a mi on Twitter @ElvaJamaica