School administrators say they will defy a directive from the Ministry of Education not to bar students who wear the Dunce-branded backpacks to school, insisting that such paraphernalia have not place in an environment for learning.

President of the Jamaica Association of Secondary School Principals Linvern Wright said that he is in support of principals advising students not to wear ‘Dunce’ bags to schools.

At least one school principal has warned that he will be barring from attending school any student who shows up with the Dunce-branded backpack, sparking concerns from advocacy groups and some parents.

“We are 100 per cent behind advising students not to take those bags to school and every single member must not allow students to come into school with that bag, because a bag like that is antithetical to the project of education that all of us want. As the principal who said to students don’t take that bag or you will not be allowed in school said to them, I cannot be preaching excellence and you’re taking dunce to school, we must not allow that and we must stand firm on it,” Wright said.

However, Cavan Lewis, president of the National Secondary Students’ Council (NSSC), said the move by school administrators to bar students from attending schools is impractical as the type of bag that a students wear does not affect their academic performance.

“The NSSC doesn’t advocate for the views of the Jamaican people overall or the administrations but the views of students, we are also not encouraging any form of promoting dunce culture in our education system. However, barring students from attending school is unacceptable and from a logical standpoint, sporting a piece of item, your uniform attire or having a particular hairstyle does not determine how students learn in schools. Therefore their access should not be restricted and administrators should use a more practical approach to enforce discipline in schools,” Lewis said.

The NSSC president while affirming the group’s objection to barring students from school, did admit that it was not in support of the Dunce-branded backpacks.

“School administrators taking the decision to barring students from attending classes is not acceptable. The best option is to ban the bag but don’t prevent students from accessing classes because we at the NSSC will not stand for it and it’s kinda just sad and unfortunate situation that this is where we are as a country but as it relates to promoting being dunce and students being barred from school there is a time and place for everything. Leave the colonial practices of restricting access to education in the past and leave the degrading statements such as dunce outside of the school,” he said.

Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams has since cautioned school administrators against barring students from entering schoolgrounds or sending them home because they are deemed not to be in compliance with the dress code of institutions.

The local slang ‘dunce’ has been a controversial term in Jamaican society, but has been thrust into the spotlight in recent weeks by the song Dunce Cheque by Valiant. Several stakeholders have argued that the song has been negatively influencing the nation’s youths.

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