It’s that time of the year! No, not Christmas, it’s Back to School! And 2020 looks different for us all; for one, delay and or changes to the standard academic year. Then, there is online learning for many. While I haven’t been privileged to experience these changes first-hand, the feedback coming through is just swell. Before COVID-19, Jamaicans faced tremendous challenge in terms of equal access to a good education. Now, not only are there added demands to facilitate education remotely, but there is also the creation of a worldwide shortage of materials and supplies because First World countries are faced with the pandemic as well. Not to mention the overload in digital infrastructure and the already susceptible-to-breakdown Jamaican electrical and internet/broadband supply, which affects accessibility. A heart full of gratitude and care to all the teachers and parents during this time. We’re all doing our best and our best is good enough — considering the challenges we face.
I loved attending school, but can’t say I enjoyed the period of transition much. That period of preparation and anticipating the changes of a new academic year, but, once settled in, I was ok. (Fun Fact: this character trait hasn’t changed at all) I am not sure why this is so, but I think it might have to do with our Jamaican customs. As soon as the summer hits August, you hear in the streets everywhere; “Yuh free paypa bun” or “Yuh free paypa soon bun.” (translation: Your free papers are burnt ) Without fail, one would not go two days without hearing this phrase. It’s the first thing I thought about including in this post about school because I associate school with the end of freedom. I never liked the saying as I would visualize papers burning and thus, internalized the event as something bad. I wasn’t certain before, but have since confirmed that the phrase is a reference to slavery. The term makes reference to an enslaved person’s “document of freedom” — his/her vacation is over and they must return to work. In the year 2020, I am going to kindly ask that we retire this phrase and no longer place this darkness on our future.
August is also a time of haberdashery visits and dressmaker fittings for new school uniforms. Uniform fitting was not exciting, but I loved wearing a uniform to school. There is this special feeling of being wrapped in a community, like having an armour of protection. I felt taller in my khaki and gold. It’s also who we are as Jamaicans, dressing and being well dressed is a part of our story. Shopping for school shoes was my favorite. It was when I could add my personal touch and stand out amongst the same. (Shoe colors had to be brown or black) I wish I had been more interested in the book shopping part of the back-to-school preparations. I don’t blame the adults, but what stood out for me from the time was more the keeping score of prices and not the contents of the book. They were chimes all around us of “new books cost x amount this year.”
In the midst of a different, yet unforgettable 2020–2021 school year, I say we use this opportunity to reshape this conversation entirely.