In early September the new academic year for the school system begins.

It will be the first academic year in two years that the system has not been faced with the existential threat of the novel coronavirus pandemic, when hybrid learning consistent with lockdowns is not in vogue, and people are able to breathe a little easier.

The population must be warned, however, that subvariants of the virus are still around and active. While people are not being hospitalised in alarming quantities and not dying from the virus, one should still take precautions not to get infected. There seems to be an attitude that we are done with the virus, but it is clear that it is not done with us yet.

All in all, one hopes for a smooth start to the new school year. But, even as one hopes, one knows that there are persistent problems plaguing education. The migration of teachers from the classroom is a very serious one for this new term.

Teachers have always been migrating from the classroom to find better opportunities in Jamaica and abroad. But it seems that this time around the problem has been exacerbated by the pandemic, which has upended so many things in our personal and collective lives.

The pandemic seems to have forced people, not just teachers, to re-examine their priorities and how they make a living; to re-examine conventions and attitudes that once dominated the workplace; and to determine whether they want to be bound any longer by these or seek out new paradigms for themselves.

The pandemic seems to have opened up a new-found freedom, causing employees to realise what they are truly capable of. Thus, many have become more feisty in their demands to have their worth and dignity recognised, and have become more assertive in their demands for better pay and work conditions.

So the school system, like any other employer worldwide, has not been spared the full brunt of such assertiveness. Almost every school district in the United States has to be wrestling with the fallout in education, especially with regard to the shortage of teachers. One estimate has it that close to 50 per cent of teachers have left the system, some from burnout, some from the culture wars imposed by Republican politics on the classroom, and some for new jobs that can meet their demand for better wages.

In situations like these, it is critical that leadership of the educational system is aware of what is taking place, but more importantly, is cognisant of what needs to be done to proactively confront the situation before things get worse. It is in this context that I view the criticisms of the present Minister of Education Fayval Williams by the Opposition spokesman on education Damion Crawford. Crawford believes that the minister is not sufficiently seized of the danger the system faces come September. He cites the number of teachers that are migrating from the system, among other things, as the fulcrum of his concern.

The minister, of course, does not share this criticism and believes what is happening now to be routine and not something to be alarmed about. But, if it is true, and it seems to be so, that the country is losing or about to lose some of its core teachers in mathematics, science, and some technical subjects, then this should be a matter of concern for any minister of education and his or her Government. This is especially so if what the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), the teachers’ union, is indicating, that the system could be faced with a shortage of over 400 teachers come September, is factual.

So the questions are: Is the minister sufficiently informed of the real crisis facing the education sector? Is she sufficiently seized of what needs to be done comprehensively to head off any developing crisis that could ensue? What level of communication exists between her ministry and the JTA and the principals on the ground to truly understand the full picture so that the necessary coordination of resources can be effected before any tsunami arrives?

We all know that as a union and pressure group there is often an adversarial relationship between the JTA and the Ministry of Education (MOE), but, in the final analysis, what really matters is that the children receive a quality education. We have no time for any pugilism between the JTA and the MOE.

In the meantime, Crawford seems to believe that the minister has failed and should be changed. I do not believe we have reached there yet. It is the perennial default position of Opposition politicians to call for the removal or resignation of ministers whose portfolio they shadow, but, for the rest of us looking on, it is not always prudent to axe a minister when things do not seem to be working out.

I believe this thought applies to the perennial call to fire ministers of national security and commissioners of police for their perceived failure on the job. Such calls are often disingenuous in the context of fighting crime in Jamaica. We tend to lay a great deal of the blame at the feet of personalities instead of trying to understand the environment in which crimes thrive and negative attitudes persist.

But I digress. Williams will be the first to admit that there are serious problems plaguing Jamaica’s educational system. They did not arrive overnight, and she has just been at the wicket for a short time. Others have been there longer.

Crawford’s party held the reins for an uninterrupted 18.5 years and yet a lot of the gaping holes we see today were never plugged. So let us ease up on the blame game and the flame throwing and come together to see what can be done to create a system of which we can be proud. And that can only be one that truly places our children at the very centre of its concern.

I understand the politics, but enough of it already.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storm, Your Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life, and Beyond Petulance: Republican Politics and the Future of America. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.