School administrators across the island have reported some or no disruptions to their school operations amid a withdrawal of service by taxi drivers yesterday.
According to the Ministry of Education and Youth’s Regional offices, while some students were late and some teachers were absent, most classes were conducted in the face-to face-modality.
In Kingston and St. Andrew, 95% of the schools operated the face-to-face modality with the remaining 5% using the remote and mixed modalities.
Two schools, Tivoli High and Kingston High dismissed classes at midday due to staff shortage.
Region 2, which covers the eastern end of the island, had one school reporting early closure as four teachers were unable to get to school.
In Region 3, the Cedric Titus High in Trelawny dismissed classes at midday because the taxis had stopped moving by then and Bounty Hall Primary also in Trelawny operated remotely.
22 of the 25 schools in Region 4 of St. James, Hanover and Westmoreland were open for face-to-face instruction.
Five schools engaged students virtually while the other 138 operated normally.
Manchester and St. Elizabeth noted no adverse impact of the strike on schools and that all had normal operations.
St. Catherine reported that all schools operated mixed modality, except one, while most schools in the urban centres dismissed classes early.
In Clarendon, all schools in the town areas were affected in terms of low attendance. They employed the mixed modality.
Minister of Education and Youth, Fayval Williams, urged school administrators not to lock out students or send them home randomly where they turned up for classes late and where there was an inadequate number of teachers.
A number of students and teachers were either absent for classes or arrived late due to the strike by taxi operators.
