Opposition blasts prime minister over ‘return to nature’ comment

The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has criticised Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness for what it describes as an attempt to romanticise the difficult conditions under which some Jamaican students have been forced to learn following Hurricane Melissa.

Opposition Spokesperson on Education Damion Crawford said Holness’s comments about students learning under trees at Holland Primary in St Elizabeth were “an insult to the nation's intellect and sensibilities”.

Speaking at Tuesday’s launch of the Jamaica Reconstruction and Resilience Oversight Committee, Holness suggested that learning did not necessarily have to be confined to four walls, describing the outdoor experience as a “positive return to nature” and recalling it as one of his “favourite” times at school.