Education Ministry reports progress in post-Beryl school repairs

By Clinton McGregor    

 

The Ministry of Education says it has ramped up the repairs of schools that were severely damaged during the passage of Hurricane Beryl.

 

The Ministry has placed nearly 100 schools on its priority one list due to the severe extent of the damage.

 

Most of the schools are located in Central Jamaica.

 

Education Minister Fayval Williams told Radio Jamaica News that she is pleased with the pace of work on the institutions.

 

"Our focus has been on those schools that were determined to be so damaged that unless we fix them, school would not be able to be opened [by] September 2. And so, we've had a concentrated focus on those schools. And I am delighted in terms of where we are, the work that has been done by the many contractors," she said, indicating that progress photos have been shared by the ministry on social media. 

 

"I have all confidence that those schools considered priority one schools will be ready for September 2nd," she insisted. 

 

Mrs. Williams added that the Ministry has been working with the Jamaica Public Service Company to restore power to affected schools.

 

"So we did give JPS a list of all the schools that indicated that they didn't yet have power. Many of those have reported that they do have power now. We will be reviewing that list by Monday to see if we need to put in some emergency power into those schools, whether it be a generator, or however we get it there. That is what we will be doing," she said.