MAY DAY, Manchester — Some school administrators in Manchester and St Elizabeth say they are anticipating that more students will turn out for face-to-face summer school in the coming days.

Principal of May Day High Stanford Davis told the Jamaica Observer that although only 30 students turned up for face-to-face classes on Tuesday, he expects that the turnout will increase.

“Some students are not around for face-to-face [classes]; some have gone abroad. There are others who are asking to come, so we are going to [accommodate] them, so the numbers will increase,” he said.

“It (summer school) has been good. We were supposed to start on [Monday], but because they (Ministry of Education) announced the changes to [Tuesday], we [had] CXC (Caribbean Examinations Council) exams today (Tuesday) and we have summer school from 9:00 to 11:00,” he added.

Davis said 136 students have been selected to attend summer school, based on the criteria that they were not adequately engaged due to challenges.

“[It] is targeting the students who would have missed out — those who didn’t get online and those who didn’t perform well,” he explained.

“We have [divided] the students into two groups, so for two days, 50 per cent of them are [expected] to come then the other two days the next 50 per cent,” he added.

Principal of Black River High Christopher Roman said although he is concerned about the low take-up from students, he expects face-to-face classes to begin at the institution by today.

“We are concerned about the uptake from students. Parents have been expressing interest in the opportunity to get their child up to speed as it relates to whatever [learning] loss would have taken place over the period [last school year].

“We are currently getting the students registered, so we are going to start by about Thursday,” he added.

Principal of Mile Gully Primary School, Heiley Salabie-Knight, said she, too, is anticipating a greater turnout of students in the days ahead.

“We started [Tuesday]; six of our teachers have volunteered to participate in the ministry’s phase-one intervention programme. We recommended 109 students. The numbers were small [on Tuesday] and I strongly associate that with the inclement weather that we were experiencing over the weekend which went over into [Monday], which caused the postponement of the start of the summer school. For the [rest of the] week and the other three weeks, we are [anticipating] that the numbers will [increase],” she told the Observer.

“Some parents whose children were not recommended for the face-to-face summer school, [but] were recommended for the online classes, have been asking if their children can come to the face-to-face classes. However, that option is being explored based on the number [of students] that we will be seeing,” she added.

Principal of Park Mountain Primary in Santa Cruz, Carlene Williams-Heath, said 12 teachers are participating in the summer school.

“We have 12 teachers [and] the students have turned out. It was a very good day. It was a smooth start,” she said.

— Kasey Williams