Melissa puts PE on pause in some western Jamaica schools

As temporary classrooms take over playing areas of some schools in St Elizabeth, principal of Carisbrook Primary and Infant School Patrick Malcolm is warning that physical education (PE) is becoming an unfortunate casualty of the push to get damaged schools functioning again.

According to Malcolm, this reflects a wider tendency to treat PE and sport as less important than academic subjects, despite their role in developing healthy, well-rounded children.

The concern is particularly acute at Maggotty High School, where temporary classrooms have left the school without enough space to conduct practical PE sessions, and properly facilitate its netball and football programmes.