AS the sun rises on a new school year, some parents say their minds race with several concerns as they prepare their children for school. The questions bombarding their thoughts are centred on the quality of education they will receive and the safety of their learning environment.

Charmaine Lawrence, the parent of a grade-nine student, said that when she bids farewell to her son this morning his safety will be at the forefront of her thoughts, praying that he returns home unharmed.

“Based on the kidnapping of children, reports of missing children, the violence in the community, and the fact that my child walks to school and walks back home, I am worried,” she told the Jamaica Observer while shopping for back-to-school supplies in downtown Kingston on Saturday.

Lawrence said that, at her son’s school, students are known to carry weapons, and the thought that he could get hurt for something as simple as stepping on another child’s shoes is something she thinks about often.

“If I had money like that I would home-school my child. I wouldn’t send him out; but I have to. A lot of parents send their kids to school and then they get a call to say him in the hospital, or he didn’t make it back home,” she said, her voice trembling.

“It’s my first child, and I’m really scared. I’m scared a lot to send him out, but because his education is the key, and he needs to learn to further himself when he gets much older, I have to send him,” said a sombre Lawrence.

“I have to just pray when he’s going out and coming in. I just pray because that is the only thing I can do right now,” she said visibly worried.

In previous academic years, violence in schools was a hot topic, with multiple incidents of students engaged in fights filling social media pages.

According to data from the Ministry of Education and Youth, a total of 55 critical incident reports, mostly related to violence in schools, between January 2022 and January 2023, were reported through the regional offices to the Safety and Security in Schools Unit.

The incidents ranged from gang violence to physical assault, as well as robbery or break-ins at schools to school bus crashes. They also included alleged sexual grooming, drowning, vandalism, stabbing, attempted abduction, brawls, physical altercations between a principal and a parent, a fire, and an alleged sexual assault case.

Education Minister Fayval Williams, speaking about the state of violence in schools during the 2024/25 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, said it was “utter madness” and condemned the actions of students.

She outlined prevention efforts such as a Safety and Security Policy, which included security measures, counselling of at-risk youth, and conflict resolution sessions. School resource officers were also placed at some institutions to conduct regular school visits and motorised patrols before and after school.

However, Kayla Pryce, the parent of a grade-seven student, is still concerned about the safety of her child while at school.

“A lot is going on with kids in schools, so I just hope that this year it is not too bad. My son knows that he shouldn’t take up badness, but other kids might not have parents who discipline their kids like me, so we don’t know what this school year a go look like,” said Pryce.

“I just hope that he comes home safe. I pray for him morning, noon, and night,” she told the Observer.

While school safety is not a #1 concern for some parents, they said that the quality of education their child will receive is worrisome.

The concerns were fuelled by recent discussions about the exodus of Jamaican teachers over the years and the impact it will have on the education system.

Data from the Ministry of Education indicate that a total of 1,538 educators resigned between January and September 2022. An additional 854 teachers resigned between January and September 2023.

Minister Williams, giving an update on the figures for 2024 during a post-Cabinet press briefing, said teacher migration was slowing, with 102 fewer teachers leaving between September to August of 2023/24 when compared to the same period in 2022/23.

She added that the ministry intends to recruit teachers from overseas to tackle the issue, but this has done little to subside the fears of some parents.

Tamara McKenzie Clarke, parent of a grade-three student, said the issue of teacher migration remains a big concern for her as the new school year begins.

“A lot of teachers are going, and I’m wondering if the teachers that are being placed in the schools have good qualifications, or if they just taking anybody putting in there,” she told the Observer.

“I’m worried about where our education system is gonna go from here. It is a scary situation,” she said.

Similar concerns were also shared by Sheree-Anne Spencer, who questioned how some students would adjust to the changes.

“Some of the children are kind of attached to them, so with them leaving and getting used to a new teacher it might be stressful,” she said, making reference to the fact that teaching styles and personalities may differ.

Another parent, who gave her name as Winnie, said that while she is not worried about the quality of education her child would receive, she is questioning whether her daughter’s teacher will stay or leave like some of her colleagues.

“She [my daughter] went to summer school, and the teacher that’s she is going to have for September is a very good teacher. For the summer she was with her teacher and I see that she’s reading now, so I kind of hope her teacher stays. I hope she doesn’t go anywhere,” she told the Observer.

“We are losing a lot of good teachers, and they leaving the ones that can’t teach the kids [well]. Sometimes some of the teachers just deh there for just deh there sake, so the children them ago double dunce,” Winnie charged.

In an appeal to the Government, she said teachers need to get better compensation, which she believes will keep them on Jamaican soil and improve the quality of teaching.

“Pay the teacher dem, because if they were getting good pay they would more than stay,” she said.

WILLIAMS… violence in schools is utter madness (Photo: Joseph Wellington)