PRESIDENT of the Jamaica Independent Schools’ Association (JISA), Dr Faithlyn Wilson, says while Government’s plans for the reopening of schools in September remain hazy, JISA is pressing for special considerations, especially for children at the early childhood level.

Addressing the nation during a press briefing last week Monday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the island’s daily hospital admissions are now at the same level as it was in March/April of this year when the country experienced a second wave of the novel coronavirus, imperilling plans by the Administration to reopen schools for face-to-face learning in September. He said the Administration had been eyeing mid-September for some kind of reopening.

Speaking with the Jamaica Observer in an interview on Monday, the JISA head said private schools are in wait-and-see mode, but have some specific requests of their own to counter the current learning loss.

“What I would say we would like, though, is if, in its deliberations, the Government would look at some special cases as it has done in the past; for example, nurseries and day cares were allowed to remain open even when schools were closed, and we are saying, since our kindergarteners need the same kind of attention, they should consider allowing our kindergartens to remain open under similar conditions as the day cares and nurseries,” Dr Wilson said.

“The other thing is that there are some students who require special education support, and those students, I think, have been at the greatest disadvantage and special consideration should be given to them as well,” she added.

She said, while JISA is well aware that the entire country is facing a crisis, exceptions made for other sectors should be considered for the early childhood sector.

“Unless we have data that suggest that having nurseries and day cares open have contributed to the spike, then I think we could consider opening kindergartens and giving special approval for special education situations,” she argued.

The JISA president also made a further pitch for children of professionals employed in the health and the security fields.

“Another area that could also be considered, as it was considered in the United Kingdom, is where there are persons in critical sectors like security and health, their children are at a significant disadvantage. I know nurses whose children cannot be online because their job situations are so demanding that they have to take the children to their grandparents and the grandparents have no Internet or cannot support online schooling. So, while they are there working extra hours to help us cope with this crisis, their own children are not getting the attention. I think, where we have employees in the critical sectors, their children should also be given special consideration,” Dr Wilson argued.

In the meantime, she said private schools are ready to resume whenever its announced.

“The current mood, I would say from where I sit, seems to be one of looking at a plan A and a plan B in terms of how we resume, because we have to act within the confines of the Disaster Risk Management Act and the prime minister really didn’t offer much details in terms of what would be the approach for reopening in September, except to say that they are looking at mid-September to reopen schools. So private schools are looking at being as flexible as possible.

“If the next order says we have to go online, then we have to pivot there. If it says we are allowed several modalities, then we are prepared to do that as well. If we are allowed to reopen face-to-face, then that is also something we are prepared to do under the constraints of the COVID-19 protocols,” she said.

JISA represents approximately 150 private schools of the just over 600 such institutions in the island.