The stage is set for the opening of yet another academic year and, despite much practise in execution and implementation, we just do not seem to be able to get it right. Too much remain undone and too little have been checked off as being in ready mode.

The “every child must learn” and “no child left behind” marketing catchphrases of the Ministry of Education have not translated into a solution which gets every school ready to receive students at the start of the school year.

With examination successes being bandied about, and single-digit increases being held up as excellence, one wonders if greater levels of acheivement could not have been attained if so many schools did not experience perennial teething pains.

Speeches and confidence-boosting statements aside, rather than excellence being the standard, much is coming up with gaps.

Still schools are reporting that they need furniture. Still many schools are awaiting the appointment of principals. Still some schools have not received their delivery of government-sponsored books. Too many construction projects are reported as incomplete.

With so much time having elapsed since the proposed merger of Charlie Smith and Trench Town high schools, why will the new Polytechnic not commence operations until the end of September? What’s more, ministry timelines indicate that a new block at Charlie Smith will not be complete until November. What of the impression to the students?

We welcome the effort to remove some 20 schools from the shift system, but the minister’s suggestion that these schools will effectively accomplish the transition without additional resources seems a little baseless. Already we have carried reports that both BB Coke and Roger Clarke high schools will not have all classrooms ready for the September start of the school year.

Reports indicate that one infant and primary school in Region 1, with near 1,000 pupils, will be turning them away for another week to complete repairs. Also, a high school in that same region had its electricity supply cut off just last week. This does not augur well for the assurance that the ministry indicated is all systems go.

We note the National Water Commission’s commitment to trucking water to “accessible” schools. What of those deemed inaccessible? Some 300 schools have indicated the need for water and/or water-storage facililties, of particular interest are the arrangements in place for rural schools, which are likely to be less accessible.

On a more macro level, the irksome Jamaica Teaching Council Bill and the concomitant licensing and recertification of teachers remain unreached targets.

Of the over 20 schools that have been shuttered, no sound has been forthcoming as to the redeployment of the physical resources. Are we to see these structures being forgotten and left to become dormitories for squatters or potential lairs for criminals?

We expect anxieties leading to the start of a new year. But the challenges identified may have been solutioned with planning and execution. No one needs to reiterate the importance of the delivery of quality education. It seems, though, that the willpower and rolled-up sleeve action have not been brought to bear on a system that the National Education Inspectorate reported that more than 60 per cent of the country’s primary and secondary schools are failing in their delivery.

Newly installed Jamaica Teachers’ Association President Mr Norman Allen in his Back-to-school Message stated, “All is certainly not rosy. Salary negotiations have come, but certainly not gone as there are issues yet unborn.” But some comfort must be taken in the fact that he also encourages that, “We will weather the storms…Together, let us engender hope.”

Parents, as stakeholders in the business of education, must note that they have added responsibilities to see to the needs of their young ones. One cannot expect a perfect system when they refuse to monitor their chidren’s progress, assist in protecting the resources of the schools, and prepare themselves to pay the tuition and auxiliary fees established by schools.

Education is by no means a sprint, but as our athletes showed us on the world stage recently, all apsects of the race affect the outcome: start to finish.