Jamaica’s education stakeholders are in a tug of war, and it’s not between right and wrong, but between reason and resistance.

Post-Hurricane Melissa, the debate about reopening schools has descended into a clash of opinions, with posturing, roadblocks, and little talk of partnership.

In shooting down the Ministry of Education’s efforts to restore normalcy in schools that were not affected by the hurricane, president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association Mr Mark Malabver chose irrationality over reason, insisting that the ministry lacked empathy, and that educators and school administrators across the board weren’t ready to go back to the classroom.

Even with the directive that school reopenings should be done where safe, and at the discretion of administrators, a militant Mr Malabver insisted that teachers and principals were grappling with trauma and should be allowed “more time” to recover. He said immediate focus should not be on academic recovery, but on providing psychosocial support towards the healing process.

Mr Malabver was cheered on by an army of keyboard warriors, armchair analysts, social media pundits, and citizens of the Internet, some of whom even suggested that all Jamaican students show solidarity with their peers in the affected parishes, and resume school next January. And, notably, with all the bitter criticism unleashed on the ministry, there was little talk of a timeline for school resumption, the learning loss, or the long-term repercussions for students.

Government officials have been stressing that the country’s recovery requires not only empathy for those who have suffered loss from Hurricane Melissa, but should be guided by logic and efficiency. We cannot operate on emotion alone.

There is little to gain from crippling the entire education system because one part of the system is temporarily disabled. Compassion for our countrymen in the west doesn’t mean that there has to be paralysis everywhere else.

The most obvious point has been missed by the teaching body, too, that teachers are not the only ones who suffered. Every sector, from health care to hospitality, everyone who experienced the same hurricane is being tasked to show up, put their big girl pants on, and do their part for Jamaica’s recovery. Why should education be any different?

It cannot be stressed enough that the closure of schools, for any reason, and for any extended time, has a negative ripple effect on students. We learned this bitter lesson during the COVID-19 pandemic, when thousands of students fell behind, some never to recover. We cannot afford to repeat that mistake or to encourage any dissenters who want to throw a spoke in the wheel of progress.

Of course, the students most affected deserve support and psychosocial help. The ministry’s promise of a swift deployment of psychiatrists and counsellors is therefore commendable. Even more commendable was Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon joining forces with Opposition spokesman on education Damion Crawford on Wednesday to urge a swift, safe reopening of schools, showing that a bipartisan approach rooted in on-the-ground assessments and reinforced with psychosocial support is real leadership.

No one is discounting Jamaicans’ collective trauma, but we can acknowledge the emotional toll of this disaster while still recognising the urgent need to resume learning. As the ministry emphasised, our students cannot become long-term victims of short-term shocks.