Principal dreads school closure

Principal Marva Smith-McKinnon is voicing her concerns that Merrywood Primary School in St Elizabeth could soon shut its doors, as falling birth rates, joblessness and the dying rural community for which it is named leave fewer children to fill classrooms.

"I see this community closing down in a few years, because it's mostly senior citizens who are here. Maybe in another five, six years the school might just close," Smith-McKinnon told THE STAR.

Merrywood Primary, which recently suffered damage during the passage of Hurricane Melissa, has just 25 students - the number was 60 when she took over the school 11 years ago.

"This is a declining school, too. So most times we have 100 per cent or 90 [attendance], because we do a breakfast programme for them, and even now with them at school, we provide the lunch for free," she said. The school serves the communities of Ipswich, Breadnut Walk and Merrywood, yet enrolment continues to slide.

"You don't see people pregnant around here because of the poor infrastructure and lack of jobs," the principal explained. Smith-McKinnon said the absence of employment opportunities is pushing young people out as soon as they leave high school. She added that the exodus is affecting even basic staffing.

"Right now I have a challenge finding somebody to be a clerical assistant just for a year. When they leave high school, they go, because nobody wants to get stuck," she said. "The good thing about here is that all the teachers are from this community. They went to study and came back and just decided to strengthen their their alma mater."

Nearby Mulgrave Primary School, she noted, is facing the same fate.

"I think the population for Mulgrave Primary is 28. Mulgrave was an all-age school in the beginning and so was Merrywood Primary but then the population started dropping. People are not having children and there is nothing to keep them here."

The shrinking population has already erased entire grade levels.

"We have six now but last school year we had 11. That was the biggest class. Currently we don't have a grade 5 because during COVID-19 we had only two children in grade one. Those two children were repeated because they could hardly attend school and then one migrated."

While teachers would be reassigned if closures happen, Smith-McKinnon said the emotional toll would be heavy.

"Even if the school is closed, the teachers are still teachers so they would be placed somewhere else whether they want to do voluntary relocation or otherwise."

Her fears mirror a national trend. Jamaica's population now stands around 2.8 million, while the fertility rate has dropped below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. The replacement-level fertility rate is where there are enough babies being born to sustain a country's population level - from generation to generation. Births have steadily declined over the past decade, raising concerns about school closures, labour shortages and an ageing workforce.

"The birth rate in Jamaica overall is declining, I think we're going to have a group of persons all working even after they pass the retirement because there's nobody to take up the slot," she warned, opining that targeted development could slow the decline.

"We need real opportunities in rural communities skills training, small industries and youth programmes so young people can see a future here instead of feeling they must leave," she said. Smith-McKinnon also pointed to infrastructure as a deal-breaker.

"If the roads were fixed, especially the roadway leading to this school, people would feel encouraged to build homes, own cars and send their children here. Our school is a prime example of how bad access can hold a community back."

Still, after more than 30 years in education, Smith-McKinnon said giving up is not an option.

"If we don't try then who is going to do it? We just have to keep pushing and give who are still here the opportunity to have a future. I think I have given my best at ensuring that."