Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) president-elect Mark Malabver says there are “pros and cons” to opening schools on Monday, September 1 — just two days before the general election. However, he advises principals to protect the best interests of their students.

“It’s not the most tidy of situations, really, but there are pros and cons to doing it. Certainly, if it is that there’s a delay in terms of the start of the school year, then by virtue of that teaching and learning would essentially be delayed because, in all honesty, the first week of school is usually used for housekeeping matters in terms of orientation [and] in terms of properly placing the students in classrooms and working through different nuances,” Malabver told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday.

Malabver acknowledged that with the decision already finalised, schools would have little choice but to adapt.

“The reality, though, is that the announcement has already been made and the schools are just going to have to act accordingly. Certainly, the principals will have to take charge of the situation and make decisions in the best interest of their respective schools,” he added.

However, Malabver cautioned that the impact may be greater in certain parts of the island, particularly where political tensions tend to run high during election season, and noted that school principals in these areas would have to make decisions that are in the best interest of their students and other stakeholders.

He also pointed out that many teachers will be directly involved in the electoral process, including working with the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ). This, he said, could add to staffing challenges during the week of the polls.

“Many of them are EOJ workers [and] there is a challenge there as well, but again, the principals will have to take into consideration those concerns. I believe, though, that the Ministry [of Education] should issue a directive to the system as to how those teachers should be treated and that they be given special leave under those circumstances and that those leave not be taken from their casual leave,” he suggested.

While he acknowledged “unease” among some teachers over the timing, Malabver, who in 2019 sought to represent the Opposition People’s National Party in St Thomas Western, maintained that the Government could have avoided the disruption by holding the election earlier.

“Certainly it would have been better if the elections were called earlier, like the final week before school begins. It’s not the most convenient of situations for the system, collectively. It’s never a good thing to start school and then have to stop school and then restart school,” Malabver explained.

In the meantime, one teacher, who requested anonymity, shared similar concerns about the timing, arguing that starting school and then pausing midweek would interrupt the rhythm of the new term.

“I did not like that they chose the start of school to do it, and my thinking is that if you’re going to do it at the start of school, do it just before then, so that we don’t start and break, and then go back. Even though it’s one day, it’s still a break, because the kids are already on a break and then they have to come out one day and then go back,” the educator told the Jamaica Observer.

She also stressed that parents’ safety concerns — especially in areas prone to political violence — should not be dismissed.

“I cannot say to a parent that they must send their child out because they know the area that they live in, and the struggles that they have in their era when it comes down to election time… and they might just be living in an era where violence tends to flare up,” she added.

However, National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ) President Stewart Jacobs welcomed the ministry’s decision, saying it would help maintain the academic timetable while still allowing the democratic process to run its course.

“This approach strikes the right balance between supporting our country’s democratic processes and prioritising our children’s education. I encourage parents to closely follow their schools during the election week to ensure a smooth transition and to make the most of every opportunity,” Jacobs said in a press release on Tuesday.

However, when Jacobs spoke with the Jamaica Observer, he expressed understanding for parents who felt it was best to wait until after the election to send their children to school.

“That’s a decision you would make as an individual, as a parent, that you’ll do anything to make your child comfortable and to make your child safe and so that’s a decision that you have to make and it all depends also on the community that you live in. If your community has a history of political violence when it comes around to this time of the year, then by all means you have to protect the child,” he said.

“But the asking of the NPTAJ is that they follow the rules and the asking of the Ministry of Education and, by extension, the schools administration to ensure that you go to orientation on the Monday and on the Tuesday,” said Jacobs.