60% of hurricane-damaged schools should be fully repaired by year-end

 

 

Sixty per cent of schools categorised as badly damaged by Hurricane Melissa are expected to be fully repaired by the end of the first term of the 2026/2027 academic year. 

 

More than 300 schools were badly or severely damaged by the hurricane, 57 of which, were fully restored ahead of the new school term. 

 

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education Dr. Kasan Troupe says, altogether, 129 schools will be fully repaired by the end of the year. 

 

"The report from the technical team is that another 95 schools will be fully completed by the end of September, and another 34 schools will be fully completed by the end of December. So we are looking at 60 per cent of the badly damaged schools ready by the end of the first term of the new academic year," she announced, calling it "tremendous work". 

 

"Repose your confidence in this technical team in the central ministry, colleagues. We are working hard to make this happen. We said it from the very onset that schools that are badly damaged will take 24 months to be completed, in addition to the fact that the new standards are up and running, reviewed by the World Bank. And so we are building back better. It will take some time," she stressed.

 

Dr. Troupe said the ministry finalised its contracts with book suppliers to ensure schools have a stable supply of rental books last week. 

 

"So we will be making the rounds to provide the top-ups for our high schools. We are spending over $700 million in resourcing our high schools and over $300 million for resourcing of our primary schools. And this is about $1.1 billion of expenditure that the government is investing in providing books for our system," noted the permanent secretary.

 

She was speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday morning.

 

 

In the meantime, the National Water Commission has begun trucking water to schools as the worsening drought continues to affect the island. 

 

Education Minister Dr. Dana Morris Dixon said the NWC has been providing water to ensure that schools remain opened.

 

"Thanks to the NWC team who has been going around and helping our schools who have water issues. We are in the middle of a drought and so there are many schools that have challenges. Over the weekend, they were out doing deliveries of water to our schools and we have to thank them for that," said Dr. Morris Dixon.