‘I want to change communities, not just schools’
KEISHA HAYLE – PNP, RED HILLS DIVISION, ST ANDREW WEST RURAL
ACCOMPLISHED ST Andrew principal Keisha Hayle’s first foray into representational politics was as a People’s National Party (PNP) candidate in a 2018 by-election to choose a parliamentary successor for the retired Derrick Smith. Dr Nigel Clarke won that contest, becoming the member of parliament for St Andrew North Western and the country’s finance minister.
Hayle did not contest the 2020 general election, but has her eyes now set on becoming t he local representative for the Red Hills division as she challenges the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) incumbent Rohan Hall on February 26.
In 2016, when the last local government elections were held, Hall received 1,450 (or 50.2 per cent) of the votes cast, while the PNP’s Otis Hamilton received 1,230. Independent candidates Answerd Ramcharan and Michelle Hall secured 158 and 14 votes, respectively. There were 38 rejected ballots.
Hayle was thrust into the national spotlight a decade ago after taking the reins at Padmore Primary in 2011. The struggling St Andrew school had been slapped with the unceremonious ‘failing’ tag and was on the brink of closure.
Twelve years and a complete transformation later, it has seen enrolment climb from the then 38 students to 220 at the beginning of the current academic year, with roughly 80 per cent of the pupils securing in-demand spots at some of the island’s top secondary schools annually.
“Nothing was wrong with the children,” Hayle told The Sunday Gleaner recently. “But we were failing the parents, and by extension, the children, for teaching is at school, but schooling is at home. So if the parents can’t help the children, the
schools become parents. So understanding the situation, we set to work. The rest is history. Since we could not go any further down; there was only one direction and that was up. And we are moving on up.”
She recalled that before the transformation, parents would send the “brighter child” to “town school” because they did not see anything good coming out of Padmore.
“The work we have done at Padmore under my leadership is nothing short of a miracle. It’s painstaking work, it’s sacrifice, it’s everything. As a result, people see me as a change agent, for the trend we have set at Padmore, transforming the children, the teaching, the schooling and selling them a vision of the road to success. Getting both parents and children to see the vision and buy into it makes me the leader of a group of change agents,” said Hayle, who holds two undergraduate degrees in political science and psychology as well as a master’s in teacher education.
HERE TO STAY
Hayle sold her dwelling house and invested the money in development programmes for the resource-starved school. Then she advertised her vehicle for sale to get more funds, and it was then that the education ministry intervened. She got old furniture from a school that was closed, and $66,000 every three months to help run the institution, which began operating in 1938.
“It’s easier you decide and say you are going to fight for your people or you are going to migrate. I am here, so it clearly means that I chose not to migrate,” said Hayle, who has racked up more than 20 years of service in the profession, winning multiple awards along the way.
Although she had her eyes set on representational politics since completing her first degree in 2001, she fell in love with teaching.
Now, she is focusing on the Red Hills division, hoping to bring about another transformation.
“People are wasting away for the lack of opportunities. When Paul Buchanan was member of parliament, there were three training centres in the constituency. There was a library in the division and it has been closed; a bar is now in the space. Now I want to change communities, and not just schools,” she explained.
The three computer labs have also been closed, Hayle told The Sunday Gleaner, adding that the facilities are food for termites.
“They have some of the worst roads. Water woes are terrible in some communities. Lack of training facilities for the transition after school. There is no high school here, so all have to leave the community for secondary education,” Hayle noted, asking voters to hand her the keys to the division so she can open doors on their behalf.