St Catherine schools turn to online classes due to tension in the area
ST CATHERINE, Jamaica — Reports reaching Observer Online are that several schools within and around the boundaries of a recently imposed curfew in sections of St Catherine have resorted to online classes for Monday.
So far, the police have confirmed that St Jago High School, Spanish Town Primary, and Jonathan Grant High School are only facilitating online classes for the day.
The police said given the curfew and tensions brewing in the parish, it is safer for children to attend classes online.
Other schools that are reportedly online include Jose Marti Technical High School, St Catherine High School, St Catherine Primary, St Johns Primary, Windsor School of Special Education, Tredegar Park Primary, Crescent Primary, Eltham Park Primary, Eltham High School, Mount Moreland Primary, and Homestead Primary.
A 24-hour curfew was imposed in sections of St Catherine to include Top Banks, Oxford Road, Spanish Town at 6:00 pm on Saturday, April 20. It was extended until 6:00 pm on Monday, April 22.
The curfew was imposed after the shooting death of Sheldon Lennox Walters, an alleged gang leader known as ‘Termite’ on Friday, April 19 which sparked tension in Spanish Town, St Catherine.
READ: Terrible ‘Termite’
On Saturday, after Walters’ followers blocked some roads in the capital, police reported that another Klansman gangster, Charles McDonald, alias ‘Chups’, was cut down during a violent confrontation with cops in Greendale, St Catherine. His firearm, they said, was recovered.
The curfew boundaries are:
NORTH: Along Spanish Town bypass travelling along Oxford Road to the intersection of Burke Road and Oxford Road
EAST: From the intersection of Burke Road and Oxford Road to the intersection of Burke Road and March Pen
SOUTH: From the intersection of Burke Road and March Pen Road to the intersection of March Pen Road and Spanish Town Bypass
WEST: Along the intersection of March Pen Road and the Spanish Town Bypass travel to the intersection of the Spanish Town Bypass and Oxford Road
The police said that during the hours of the curfew, all individuals within its boundaries are required to remain within their premises for 24 hours, unless otherwise authorised by the ground commander.