BARELY SURVIVING in the zone
IN A community that has police and military joint command checkpoints at every possible point of entry and smack in the middle of Denham Town, site of the latest zone of special operation (ZOSO), is the St Albans Primary School in west Kingston.
Built to accommodate more than 800 students, currently enrolled are 161 students and a staff complement of eight teachers and a guidance counsellor.
Many of the students at St Albans are no stranger to the violence that has made it possible for their community to bear the ZOSO tag, The Gleaner was told.
However, since Denham Town was designated the country’s second ZOSO nearly two weeks ago, it has been experiencing a certain calm and peace, which has resulted in more students coming out to classes.
Before the ZOSO was announced, many students were kept away from the area because of marauding gunmen, whose ensuing chaos would certainly interrupt classes at the institution, one resident said.
“I realise there is an increase in the attendance of students from the start of the ZOSO, but it was telling that we still managed to have our parentteacher association (PTA) meeting even though there was a decline in the numbers of parents coming out,” an official from the school said.
Requesting anonymity, the official also noted that before the ZOSO designation, an average of 70 parents or guardians (men included) would attend PTA meetings. However, that number has dwindled dramatically, with less than half turning out for the last meeting held on Wednesday.
“And that is not so strange when you know the mentality of the people who live in these communities, especially the men, who stayed away completely from the last PTA meeting because of what I theorise to be their fear of the security forces,” the official said.
ATTENDANCE DECLINED BEFORE ZOSO
The source said, however, that the declining attendance existed before the area was declared a ZOSO. In fact, this has been the case since the 2010 incursion by the security forces in their hunt to capture strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke in the neighbouring community of Tivoli Gardens.
“About then, we had approximately 400 students, but it has got worse in terms of attendance as violence would flare up anywhere and at anytime with the wanton shoot-outs and killings around the community,” stated the official.
“It is unfortunate that our children have become so excited about such gross and inhumane occurrences, but we still have a few coming out, and as long as they are coming, we have a job as teachers to teach and protect them.”