KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President La Sonja Harrison has raised concerns about the conditions facing some students and educators as schools reopen for the 2026–2027 academic year.

In her back-to-school message Monday, Harrison acknowledged the efforts being made to prepare schools for reopening but warned that some students and teachers will still return to facilities affected by mould, inadequate furniture, unfinished repairs, poor lighting, tented classrooms, water shortages, and other challenges.

“That cannot be your standard, Jamaica,” she said.

Harrison said conditions at some schools, particularly in western Jamaica, remain “deeply concerning” and questioned how certain school closures and consolidations are being managed.

She argued that, in some cases, communication with teachers, parents, principals, and school boards has raised concerns about respect for educators and whether meaningful consultation is taking place.

The JTA president also criticised what she described as a gap between discussions about teacher autonomy and the way educators are treated. She pointed to Finland’s education system as an example of one built on trust and professional respect for teachers.

“If we admire educational systems such as that of Finland, then we must be prepared to examine the principles that make those systems successful, including trust in and respect for educators,” she said.

Harrison also maintained that the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) Bill, in its current form, “cannot stand”.

“We await the promised meeting and the update regarding the latest amendments as disclosed by the honourable minister of education,” she said.

She highlighted specific examples of ongoing challenges, including conditions at Aboukir High School, where she said a condemned building has remained unresolved since October 2025. According to Harrison, students and teachers have been forced to share sanitation facilities while repairs to the main building have yet to begin.

She also pointed to furniture shortages, including termite damage, along with infrastructure problems at Alligator Pond Primary and recent developments at Balcombe Drive.

“Many children will still return to unacceptable conditions, mould, inadequate furniture, unfinished repairs, furnace light and poorly lit tents, water challenges, and other deficiencies, and then we call it resilience,” Harrison said.

The JTA president also raised concerns about continued teacher shortages but welcomed efforts by the Ministry of Education to collect data and address the gaps.

She further welcomed the commitment from the Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change, Matthew Samuda, to ensure schools have access to water as the new term begins.

“The business of teaching and learning must go on as our children learn best when they can safely occupy the physical classroom,” she said.

Turning to the impact of Hurricane Melissa, Harrison questioned whether the reported billions would be enough to facilitate recovery activities at more than 600 schools reportedly damaged during the hurricane.

“After 64 years of independence and particularly following the revelations of our vulnerabilities after Hurricane Melissa, we must pause and ask some honest questions,” she said. “Do we truly value education as a social good and one of the greatest instruments for equity available to any society?”

Harrison called for an educational framework “crafted by Jamaican teachers for Jamaican children” and supported by Judeo-Christian principles, with support from both sides of the political divide regardless of which party forms the Government.

She also called for creative and sustainable ways to finance education, including better pay for teachers.

Among her proposals were allocating portions of National Housing Trust (NHT) funds to education, redirecting HEART Trust-NSTA resources to strengthen technical and vocational training, using revenue from taxes such as those on sugary beverages, increasing organised support from the diaspora, and requiring countries that recruit Jamaican-trained teachers to contribute to the country’s education system.

Harrison said such measures, combined with funding from the national purse, could help create the “proactively resilient education system” described by Dr Dionne Edwards Carr, dean of the Faculty of Education at The University of the West Indies, Mona.

“It can happen, fellow Jamaicans,” Harrison said. “What we need is courage and political will.”

She encouraged teachers and other education stakeholders to remain resolute as the new school year begins, noting that the JTA has been invited back to the negotiation table on Tuesday, September 15.