Education critics raised the alarm over a school system they say is failing at its foundation, leaving students trapped in a cycle of repeated suspensions, behavioural struggles, and academic overload.
As the Ministry of Education outlined a nearly $290m allocation during theEstimates on Monday, they reported that school suspensions have plunged by more than 60 per cent following stricter oversight and the introduction of alternative approaches.
But critics questioned whether the numbers reflect real change, pointing instead to delayed interventions and students falling through the cracks before help arrives.
Felicia Dujon, an educator and Democratic Labour Party candidate in the last general election, expressed concern over the timing of intervention for students who may be presenting with behavioural issues.
“I think some of the things that should be done is the intervention that is needed so that the child does not repeat the actions or the kind of behaviour that they have, so you shouldn’t be waiting until the child has five or six suspensions for them to realise that we need to send the child somewhere,” she said.
Dujon suggested that social workers should complement school counsellors, who are professionally trained to deal with behavioural issues, rather than relying on teachers.
“I think we need to have perhaps the school counsellors, we need one at every school. We need the social workers at one at every school and not just one at 10 schools. So the resources have to be expanded if we are to achieve what we’re hoping to achieve.”
She added that behavioural problems often stem from simple issues.
“It could be because they’re hungry, that could be one of the simplest things. It could be that they have problems at home, and you bring them into the environment. It could be that they’re being bullied. I think that the ministry has to look at that. There’s too much overlapping matters that they’re not addressing.”
Dujon also highlighted that the heavy school curriculum may be contributing to mental overload and declining literacy.
“Most of what I’m hearing is that they’re adding more subjects to the curriculum. So their curriculum seems more compact and too complex right now. I think too much of that because at the end of the day, if they’re still going to keep the Eleven-plus [exam], students are only being graded on math, English, and composition. So why would you put 12 and 13 subjects for eight- or nine-year-olds or 10-year-olds, and at the end of the day, you’re only grading them for two areas, two specific areas. I think it’s mental overload.”
She suggested limiting time on untested subjects like foreign languages.
“We’re seeing that there’s a decline in literacy and numeracy because too much of the time is spent on other areas that they’re not being tested on. I don’t mind a student learning a foreign language, but we’re spending too much time on that, perhaps one hour for the week.”
Friends of Democracy Shadow Minister of Education Raymond Wiggins expressed support for in-house suspension alternatives.
“That is something that we have advocated for, the in-house suspensions where you can have a certain area of the school where you can have like positive behavioural interventions, you know, instead of just reacting when things go wrong, where schools proactively build a positive culture,” Wiggins said.
But he questioned how suspension numbers were calculated while advocating for a restorative justice approach.
“Anger management and frustration, and the discipline problems would decrease a lot if we would harness these behavioural problems in the early stages. I know they also spoke about, and I have some hope that some of the things they mentioned would be put in place when they speak of early diagnosis and timely intervention.”
Both Wiggins and Dujon agreed that individuals trained in mental health should manage children who present with behavioural issues.
“If not every school, every community, every section of the school system has mental health and different psychologists, psychiatrists, and so forth to stem some of the tide of these students very early and try to put them on a better path,” Wiggins said.
Dujon praised the ministry for putting security guards at all schools, a measure she said she has long advocated: “You can’t have security at school, and a number of schools, the fencing is poor. So then you have wild dogs, you have all kinds of things coming on the compound.”
Wiggins also raised concerns about school repairs being done during short breaks or while students are present.
“If they’re talking about having repairs done while students are around or even on weekends, on holidays, the children are back in school within a day or two. Sometimes there’s a lot of dust. Sometimes you don’t know what is in the atmosphere or in some of the older buildings.
“Maybe we’ve gotten rid of all of the asbestos from some of these situations, but from the type of things that have been happening at some of the schools where they can’t even figure out if they do air and water quality, I don’t think it’s a good idea to have students anywhere within the vicinity while there are repairs being done.”
Wiggins proposed using government-owned buildings as temporary holding schools during major repairs.
“We have a few buildings around that are government-owned that can be retrofitted while there are no students there and converted into maybe a holding school or two holding schools while other schools are being repaired. They’ve had to do it on a number of occasions, but children from, I believe it was, The Grantley Adams School, they had to go somewhere else. Maybe if they convert some of these older buildings.”
Dujon and Wiggins both expressed the hope that with these proposed changes, the education ministry will act swiftly to secure schools, repair infrastructure, and strengthen student support services.
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