SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Tracy-Ann Baker sat outside the Savanna-la-Mar Primary School with her young son for much of yesterday as her older child attended classes inside.

She had hoped to enrol them both for summer classes but school administrators told her there was no way to accommodate her toddler who is not yet their student. He begins grade one at the school in September.

Apart from that disappointing news, Baker was happy with the way the day progressed.

“My son not being able to go to class is my main issue right now, but it’s good otherwise. I see dem following protocols and I’m glad they can get out the house,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

For Franz Collins who has a son attending the school, his concern was what he thought was a lapse in security. School administrators, he explained, had instructed parents to gather at one spot, an attempt to prevent clusters of people. However, this move, he said, had left the children vulnerable.

“When the children come out of class they have to search for their parents or wait for them. This girl is waiting on her parents and someone could just come and say they’re here for her and just take her. I don’t like that,” Collins said.

The issue was later rectified as multiple staff members were dispatched to ensure only parents or guardians were gaining access to students.

For most parents, their major concern was that classes were only being offered two days each week.

That was a similar concern for parents of students attending Sir Clifford Campbell Primary, said Principal Lorna Harvey-Gooden. At that location, though the turnout of students was less than anticipated, there were glowing commendations for the children that showed up.

“Today is our second day and because it is the first week we don’t have as many children as we thought we would; but the children that were here were so quiet and well-behaved,” said Harvey-Gooden who stressed that all safety protocols were being observed.

Primary schools across the island opened their doors for face-to-face classes this week as part of the Ministry of Education’s Recover Smarter – National School Learning and Intervention Plan (NSLIP) which is aimed at helping students recover from learning loss due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Sessions will be held for approximately two hours each day, Monday to Thursday, until August 19. They will be delivered in online and face-to-face components, with the latter targeted at students who have not been consistently engaged with the education system because of the pandemic.