The Tribune

IN today’s Tribune, we publish our Back to School supplement – as parents, schools, teachers and all associated prepare for a return to the classroom.

It is worth taking a moment to reflect on the four words at the end of that sentence, which should not be taken for granted.

For a time, during the height of the pandemic, it was uncertain when our children would be able to be back in the classroom.

It was difficult for many children to study using the virtual classes that were provided. For some, that was having trouble staying focused. For others, it was not being able to connect at all as families struggled with bills and choices were made between paying for food, paying for internet or paying for electricity.

Those were hard times for many of us, and we should be grateful that our children have the opportunity to sit alongside their classmates, to play with their friends during their breaks, and to live again a more normal childhood.

There have been consequences of those days. A significant number of children have a learning deficit – a shortfall to make up to where they could have been without that global interruption.

There are also consequences that are harder to measure. Soon after children returned to the classroom, one school counsellor told The Tribune of how children were not as socially developed as usual – in that time away from their friends, their bodies had grown but they weren’t used to how to behave with their greater size. Playground scuffles were more frequent and a little more bruising.

That has been backed up by government observations – earlier this month, acting education director Dominique McCartney-Russell talked of how students had developed communication gaps, as well as problems with motivation.

She said about 40 percent of students had experienced some level of learning loss, and noted an apathy among some towards education as a whole.

That was then – this is now. The new term offers an opportunity for our children to plunge wholeheartedly into making up for what was lost, or to strive to succeed even more.

To help them, it is not just up to the school to support them, but all of us. A child thrives with the support of those around them. Parents. Family. Neighbourhoods. Churches. Communities.

A VAT holiday has been announced on school supplies, to help parents who still need to stock up. There are criticisms of its timing, and when it was announced, but it is there to make the most of.

School repairs are under way – and we hope they will be complete before the first day of school. Again, there are some concerns – as evidenced by union leader Belinda Wilson calling for more information on the contractor in charge at RM Bailey where a roof has collapsed. We hope those concerns can be allayed, and the requested information resolve that issue.

So we hope all our students can return to schools that are properly repaired, properly equipped and ready to provide them with all that they need to succeed.

Because if there is one thing that should always unite our nation, it is in doing all we can to help the next generation to thrive.

In the pandemic, that generation has experienced a hardship others did not have to contend with in their childhood years. As we look to encourage them to overcome that, we must not hold back in our support, in our encouragement – and in our praise when they do succeed.

Good luck to all students as they return – we hope they seize the opportunity ahead of them.