CLARK’S TOWN, Trelawny — When the novel coronavirus pandemic forced the closure of the nation’s schools in March 2020, it also brought Dianne Livingston’s bustling vending business outside Clark’s Town Primary School to a grinding halt.

It was therefore predictable that she would welcome the Ministry of Education’s announcement of full return of face-to-face classes on Monday, which also saw her picking up where she left off after a two-year hiatus.

On Monday, scores of students converged at the school’s fence to purchase snacks from their beloved 60-year-old vendor.

“I always pray to the Almighty God that one day we could come back. I was always praying for the children to come back to school. You know it [profit] is not big, but it can go on. Half a loaf better than none at all. Every dollar counts,” Livingston told the Jamaica Observer.

“The children are the future, they now learn from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm. I prefer the children to come to school. When they are at home they don’t learn. So I am glad the children are coming back because education is the key.”

The mother of eight, who shared that she took over vending outside the school from her mother who passed on nine years ago, also said that there is mutual respect between her and her young customers.

“They love me because, whether money or not, I give them what they want because I remember I grow to maintain my children without father. That was how my mom operated. The children see me on the road and encouraged me to come back,” she explained.

But Livingston, who sold female underwear across several Trelawny communities during the two-year break, noted that she was reluctant to return to selling snacks to the children, explaining that she is diabetic and hypertensive, and as such was cautious about exposing herself to the respiratory disease.

“I said I would not be coming back right now because mi diabetic and hypertensive. So you know when you are diabetic you have to be extra vigilant, you have to avoid mixing up,” she contended.

Apart from the snacks, she also sells personal protective equipment.

“One of the days I thought about taking the vaccine, so I took the vaccine and wear mi mask. See, I sell masks and I have hand sanitiser, water, and so on,” she highlighted.

For now, Livingston does not have any competition from the other eight vendors who usually peddle snacks outside the school.

“It was nine of us out here, but since the corona only me come back. Some people might have a job and don’t want to leave it, but I didn’t have a job,” she said.

Meanwhile, Clark’s Town Primary School Principal David Taylor noted that just over 200 of the 286 students on roll turned out for classes Monday.

“We are coping well and children are fine. We have been practising since January with a half of the students, we still don’t have the full population, but we are close to it,” Taylor told the Observer.

Regional director for the Ministry of Education’s region three, comprising St Ann and Trelawny, Karlene Segre said, “All our schools in the parish [ Trelawny] have opened for face-to-face activities.”

She noted that, except for late attendance of some students and staff members in the southern region of the parish, there were no major glitches.

“We have no major issues except in upper Trelawny where some of the taxi operators withdrew their service, so it kind of caused some delays for some of the students and teachers arriving at school on time, but it did not prevent the schools from reopening,” Segre told the Observer.

“All the schools and our children are excited to be back,” she stressed.