The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

DISGRUNTLED parents in Mayaguana have protested what they described as a years-long teacher shortage at the island’s only school, a situation they say has severely disrupted students’ education and “is failing their kids.”

They said students at Mayaguana’s Comprehensive School have had to rely on virtual learning to fill the gap, but the platform is often hampered by constant power outages, disrupted internet service, systematic issues and other challenges on the island.

Cheryl Farrington, mother of two ninth graders and a seventh grader, said parents are “drained” and fed up.

She said after returning from living on Eleuthera for a year, her daughters’ grades dropped dramatically, taking them from being on the honour roll and the principal’s list to experiencing a near one-point GPA decline.

“That’s not my children,” she told The Tribune yesterday. “Being a single mom, there's no dad involved with me. I'm raising four young women so it's rough.”

According to the 2022 census, Mayaguana only had 208 residents. The island likely lacks the amenities necessary to attract teachers.

For her part, Education Director Dominique McCartney-Russell acknowledged parents’ concerns, saying her ministry is reaching out to utility providers to improve services.

In the meantime, she said the department has been actively searching for teachers from Mayaguana and has identified at least two candidates, including a PE teacher and a science/math teacher.

She said the ministry is currently looking for a general teacher, and efforts to fill the vacancies are underway.

“I told the parents as well as the team in Mayaguana to give us atleast two weeks to get all of the paperwork and get those persons situated so they are able to go to Mayaguana and teach in our school there,” she said.

However, parents said education officials have long promised to send more teachers to the school, which serves over 30 students across both primary and secondary levels.

However, years later, those promises have yet to be fulfilled.

They said the school needs a lower primary teacher to help the upper primary teacher and several high school teachers so students can come off the virtual learning platform.

“We’ve been one virtual for the past four years now since the pandemic and it’s not working,” said Pristore Cartwright. “The children are suffering, and we're not prepared to go any further on virtual.”

She said frequent disruptions due to unreliable utilities force half-days at school, making consistent learning nearly impossible.

Other times, the platform doesn’t work.

She claimed that teachers sometimes send threatening emails, complaining about work back ups and threatening penalties.

“The children are not doing the work because they don't know the work,” she added.

Ms Cartwright said parents took it upon themselves to protest at the school Wednesday by sitting in the classroom, voicing their concerns.

They recorded videos of themselves, which were sent to The Tribune. In the clips, some parents spoke about their children failing classes, while others described their kids coming home in tears over the situation.

A meeting with education officials was held later that night to address their concerns.

“My daughter is graduating primary and I done tell Glenys Hanna-Martin, my child will not be coming to school come September to sit in front of a laptop, I assure you and she promised me that ain't happening,” Ms Carwright added.

She claimed the school has already seen three graduating classes fail because students are not learning.

Most students didn’t get their diplomas last year, they said.

Vanessa Moss, another frustrated parent, said her seventh and eleventh-grade daughters often feel discouraged attending school.

“Everyday, she’s just about ‘mommy it ain’t making no sense’,” she said. “Only because I’m married here to be honest and we building, that’s what’s keeping me here because Inagua is my home and I does be thinking about going back home.”

Mrs Moss said her daughter, an aspiring business owner, has also expressed concern about how the situation is affecting her studies and college plans, but teachers have encouraged her to keep hope because “things can change.”

“If she don’t still get what she needed, there’s still hope that she can go off to BTVI and do some stuff like that.”

Other parents said they are now looking to leave the island for better opportunities for their children.

“I find myself sick to my stomach (thinking) like what am I gonna see because I know that my girls are honor rolls. They're doing their thing. You don't know when you go to the school here, what you're gonna get,” Ms Farrington said.