Some schools will not be ready to resume classes in January, minister admits

 

Education Minister Dr. Dana Morris Dixon says some schools will not be ready to resume classes in January due to the level of damage caused by Hurricane Melissa. 

 

The Education Minister says work will be carried out through the Christmas break to effect repairs to the institutions worst affected. 

 

Dr. Morris Dixon says the ministry will have to get creative to ensure that students are back in classes next year. 

 

"There are going to be some schools that are so damaged, even if we worked all through the Christmas, they are not going to be able to be back fully. So we are looking at all the modalities. We are using tents, we are using temporary structures, and in many instances we are going to have to go back on shifts for schools that don't have shifts. But our goal is really to get the children back. We are kind of modality agnostic. We need our children engaged. The safest place for them is in school. The place where they can get the psychosocial support that they need after a traumatic experience like Hurricane Melissa is at school," she stressed.

 

The Education Minister added that the current estimate of the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa stands at $15 billion. 

 

"And that does not include a lot of other things, because even at Lacovia High, you know, the farm has been damaged. That doesn't include the repairs that would be needed for the farm, and it doesn't include, for example, new computers that are going to be needed because a lot of our schools that were damaged, the computer labs were damaged also. So it's a big number; $15 billion is the preliminary amount. We are starting with the schools that have been most affected and most damaged. And so we're starting with those. During next year, we'll continue to fix the schools that can continue even without the repairs being done," the minister outlined.