(Jamaica Observer) – SOME school leaders are cautiously optimistic as they welcome the Government’s promise to provide water to schools ahead of next month’s reopening, but two of them have made it clear that the assistance must be more than an announcement but a reliable flow of support.
“The principals across all levels of the system are elated that the move is being made to secure sanitation across the schools… If water is provided at no cost or very low cost to schools, this is a move that we not only welcome for our students and our staff but also I am sure the parents would be quite elated to know that their children will be placed in safe and secure school environments because we’ll have the water required for cooking, cleaning and general sanitation,” Anniona Jones, president of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (JAPSS) told the Jamaica Observer Wednesday.
Her comments came after Water Minister Matthew Samuda assured that the Government will be taking action to ensure that schools, farmers and early-childhood institutions have adequate water supplies amid worsening drought conditions across the island.
The minister’s comments came during official commissioning of the Bunkers Hill Water Supply System in Clarendon on Tuesday. He announced that water trucks will be available to schools while a structured tank programme is being developed to assist early-childhood institutions and farmers with inadequate storage capacity.
Jones, who is also the principal of Haile Selassie High School, argued that while the initiative is welcomed, many institutions across Jamaica would require more than just water assistance. She pointed to the need to have adequate storage facilities.
“It’s one thing to be willing to provide the water, however some schools may need additional support in having tanks and the plumbing costs required for connection to ensure that they will have sufficient water,” she said.
