Students gather for devotion on the first day of the new school year at Tivoli Gardens High School in west Kingston yesterday. - Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer

As the new school year got under way yesterday, institutions in eastern Kingston had a smooth start, with just a few challenges faced by some principals.

At Dunoon Park Technical High School, several students congregated at the gate long after the start of school. They were the students who had paid little or no attention to the school rules.

The boys were dressed in pants too tight and the girls showed up in short skirts and wearing false hair.

However, a few teachers who were on spot were quick to get the girls busy, pulling the extensions from their hair.

Furniture shortages

Inside the compound, principal Geraldine Arthurs told The Gleaner the school was experiencing shortages in furniture for both teachers and students.

At Mountain View Primary, acting principal Zemrie Watson said the critical shortage of space and inadequate furniture was causing discomfort in the classes.

"The classes are overcrowded, which is not easy to deal with, and the children squeeze up on the benches," she lamented.

Watson said more than 10 parents turned up at the school for last-minute registration, but she was only able to accommodate three.

There are 47 students on average in each class at the school, but the principal said it would not affect the students negatively in their learning.

nadisha.hunter@gleanerjm.com