COOPERS PEN SCHOOL BLUES - Majority of 25 displaced children miss first day of new academic year WESTERN BUREAU: Of the 25 school-age children whose homes were bulldozed during a recent demolition exercise in Coopers Pen, Trelawny, only seven ventured out for the start of the new school year on Monday, as displaced families struggled to prepare them for classes. When The Gleaner visited the community on Monday morning, residents said 18 of the children who would normally have returned to school had been relocated to stay with relatives in other areas, creating uncertainty about when – or whether – they will be able to resume classes.
A new dawn - Hopes high as Hydel Cumberland High embarks on win-win mission Principal of the newly created Hydel Cumberland High School in St Catherine, Carlon Pitt, said the institution is already seeing the benefits of the merger, and is focused on moving forward as it enters the new academic year. The two St Catherine-based high schools, Hydel and Cumberland, were merged over the summer holidays to consolidate resources in what stakeholders have labelled as a win-win for both schools.
Two primary schools merged, 3 closed The Government is exploring closing and merging more schools across Jamaica as a means of maximising resources and infrastructure, Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon has indicated. “We have to look at it holistically across the country. There are many schools where we have low populations, and many communities where there are less students than the school can accommodate,” she told The Gleaner at the merger ceremony of St Catherine-based high schools Hydel and Cumberland.
Western schools reopen as rehab work continues WESTERN BUREAU: Schools across western Jamaica reopened on Monday for the 2026-2027 academic year despite some still needing extensive repairs to restore their hurricane-ravaged compounds. Dr Lavern Stewart, the newly installed principal at Herbert Morrison Technical High School in Montego Bay, St James, told The Gleaner that a special effort was made to ensure that the school would be ready on Monday. Having been heavily impacted by Hurricane Melissa last October, 18 of its classrooms and its canteen and tuck shop are still undergoing repairs.
STETHS built to bounce back To reopen after the devastation to its infrastructure almost a year ago as a result of Hurricane Melissa is a tale that reflects the adopted theme of St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS). “We’re never beaten until the end of the game,” says principal Keith Wellington. The school sports teams’ tagline is also a mark of resilience that reflects the very character of the institution, he says, and one that has increasingly been embraced over the years by the various stakeholders.
J$1.5m lifeline for children of tourism workers WESTERN BUREAU: As thousands of children returned to classrooms across Jamaica yesterday, some sons and daughters of tourism workers were doing so against a very different backdrop – their parents remain off the job months after Hurricane Melissa. The S Hotel Foundation has stepped in with a J$1.5-million back-to-school grant programme targeting children of tourism workers whose properties remain closed and who have been without their regular salaries.
NET rebuilding schools for future resilience In acknowledging the unease, particularly among those in the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Melissa, the National Education Trust (NET) is reaffirming the unwavering pledge of the Build Back Better programme to provide comprehensive infrastructure support to school environments in order to improve educational delivery. The programme is aimed at bolstering what is being rebuilt beyond general repairs – a programme running through to 2030 “where, critically, we can strengthen facilities structurally”, says Latoya Harris-Ghartey, executive director of NET.
Schools must follow repair protocols – education minister Education Minister Senator Dana Morris Dixon is urging schools not to undertake repairs outside the Ministry of Education’s established protocols as the ministry awaits a second report on the condition of Balcombe Drive Primary and Junior High School in Kingston. Morris Dixon said the reports are needed to properly assess the school’s condition before any repair work is authorised. The minister was responding to questions from reporters yesterday after unveiling a monument to twin Hydel and Cumberland high schools in Portmore, St Catherine.
SHAMEFUL - Pan-Africanist blasts Jamaica’s move to petition to King today on reparations guidance Jamaica’s decision to lodge a petition today with King Charles to seek legal guidance on its slavery reparations claim from Britain has been branded as a disgrace by Pan-African advocate Dr Imani Tafari-Ama. “It is embarrassing. It is so embarrassing,” Tafari-Ama told The Gleaner yesterday. She noted that the Caribbean Community has already established a 10-point reparations plan to facilitate and guide the global African reparations movement.
JTA demands seat at table on school closures President of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), La Sonja Harrison, is raising concern over what she describes as the lack of consultation regarding school closures and mergers. According to the JTA head, at least 10 schools are set to be merged or closed by the Government for this academic term. “We await where it is in the process of these consolidations and closures, that a conversation will be had with the union to represent our members,” she told The Gleaner.