Following a strong earthquake on Monday, numerous schools in Jamaica found it necessary to initiate their earthquake safety procedures.
Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President Leighton Johnson told Radio Jamaica News that most schools were forced to activate their earthquake drill.
“As educational institutions, a part of our safety and security mandate is that students and staff – teachers, academic, administrative, and ancillary staff – should be aware of what to do and how to react in the event of an eventuality such as an earthquake, and they have indicated that in many regards, they were able to activate many of the safety mechanisms pertaining to earthquakes and carry out a drill,” he said.
A call for comprehensive audits
He noted that some schools have experienced several earthquakes in recent times and that there are aspects of their buildings that have been compromised.
He added that this requires the Ministry of Education to do a “complete infrastructural audit of the institutions to ensure that as best as possible, the institutions are safe for teaching and learning for our students and our teachers to exist in those environments.”
He further said that school administrators must conduct an assessment for possible infrastructure damage and file a report to the Ministry of Education.
