AMID heated debate over the enforcement of grooming rules at the start of the new school year on Monday, Education Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon has pledged the support of her ministry to administrators of schools as they enforce discipline.

Addressing the launch of Shortwood Teachers’ College’s 140th anniversary celebration on Wednesday, Morris Dixon argued that due to a great lack of regulation in many Jamaican homes, discipline must be maintained as an irreplaceable pillar in schools.

“School is not like when I went to school or when you went to school, it is very different. We have our children coming to school from homes where nobody cares to teach them how to be a good citizen. Nobody cares to instil discipline in them. They’re not getting it in the home. They’re not getting it in the community,” said Morris Dixon.

“On the matter of discipline, we are talking about it a lot in Jamaica, we have to stand with our schools and our principals on this matter of discipline,” added Morris Dixon.

The education minister told the audience that schools have been tasked to greatly emphasise their duty as a societal institution, taking on both primary — a role that is vested in families — and secondary socialisation.

She declared that an educator’s impact on the socialisation of students must not be understated.

“Our schools have become something different. Our teachers are becoming the parents. Our teachers are often the [ones] — not just the guidance counsellor — taking on the role that the family should have taken,” said Dixon Morris.

“It is not easy being in our schools or in our classrooms. It’s very difficult. Our classrooms have to be seen as places of re-socialisation because our children are not learning it at home and so we have to be strong,” added the education minister who has faced some criticisms over the ministry’s stance to just oppose schools locking out students who breach their dress codes.

Since Monday there have been reports of students across the island being locked out for breaches of rules governing hairstyles and dress codes.

In response, Morris Dixon reiterated the ministry’s stance that no student should be locked out of the school compound, and should instead be permitted entry, and where there are matters related to possible grooming infractions, these should be discussed and addressed in collaboration with the parents to ensure compliance.

But in a clear signal that this did not mean the ministry would allow students to breach school rules, Morris Dixon told those at the teachers’ college on Wednesday that she is dedicated to ensuring that schools are seen as places of learning and instilling the necessary principles that will allow students to grow into valuable members of society.

“The vision we have for Jamaica — and a vision that I know can be a reality — will not happen if we do not instil discipline in our children. And so as we talk about rules, we have to understand that the Jamaica that’s going to be a beacon in this world is going to have to be one that is disciplined,” declared Morris Dixon.

She added that though the need for order in schools was paramount, students’ safety must also be ensured at all times.

“Of course, that does not mean that there are not rules around the way in which we administer discipline; that’s very important. Our children also need to be valued and our children need to be kept safe.

“But at the heart of it, and as minister of education today, I am telling you that my focus is on having disciplined school environments,” said Morris Dixon, who is expected to retain the education portfolio when Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness names his new Cabinet next week.