School zoning has been advanced as a solution to solve a myriad of problems. Where traffic is concerned, anecdotal evidence suggests there is much faster vehicular flow when school children and teachers are on holiday and less strain on an already overburdened Transport Board service.

If we are truly moving to egalitarianism, full secondary school zoning – just like primary – will admit children of all levels, strengths and abilities and truly destigmatise some of the newer secondary schools which unfortunately are not always viewed with the same regard as the older secondary schools by some. Children develop at different ages and – in an effort to realise the stated goal of the Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination as just a placement exam – zoning at the secondary level, could level the playing field, so to speak.

Let us look at the current reality in Barbados. Some parents subvert the system by using a false address or that of a relative in the catchment area for the partial zoning system currently employed at the secondary level. And some parents choose primary schools that are not close to their abode via the same means.

The fact is, the end of school and closing time of most businesses do not coincide. In fact, parents have to either pay for after school care, collect children well after the end of school, or ferry them off to extra curricular activities or custodial care. We no longer have a situation where mothers stay at home or an extended family is available. And there are parents who worry that their child might not be able to walk safely home. If children are asked to make their way home with no adult supervision around, it may very well result in some falling into the wrong company, which no parent wants.

Likewise, in the age of requests for higher productivity and the desire to preserve one’s jobs, it is not always easy to get time off to leave early for the day to stay with children after the end of school. So parents choose options that are more palatable – enrolling the child in a school close to his/her workplace and/or scheduling appropriate after care or extracurricular activities to accommodate the extra time before the parent is finished working.

Where does that leave us? There have been several other solutions suggested to help curtail the problem: staggered working hours, including flexi-time; longer working hours; employers providing nursery/after care for the children of their staff members, among others. It must be noted that any move to change school systems will have an impact on productivity, punctuality and attendance of the parent. Ideally, a one-size fits all approach is not appropriate and further dialogue is encouraged with stakeholders to ensure all points of view are heard and viable solutions found.

A move to full zoning has to be carefully thought out, particularly if people heed requests made by several officials to have more children. More children equal more placement in schools, which equals more vehicular and pedestrian traffic. If we are to ensure we solve rather than add to our traffic problems, this very necessary dialogue about zoning is without doubt overdue.