MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica. Schools across western Jamaica opened their doors on Monday for the new academic year, some of them with classrooms, labs and roofs still being repaired after Hurricane Melissa.
At Herbert Morrison Technical High School in Montego Bay, 18 classrooms, the canteen and the tuck shop remain under repair. Its new principal, Dr Lavern Stewart, said a late push was needed after work slowed last week, with staff on the compound until about eight on Sunday night clearing a garbage pile-up and getting rooms ready.
Across the city at Cornwall College, principal Michael Ellis said orientation week began well even with at least six senior classrooms out of use. He described the boys as eager to be back and complying with grooming rules, and said everyone was motivated to meet the year’s goals despite the state of the buildings.
At Bethel Primary in Hanover, the roof of one block is still being rebuilt, and special arrangements were made for the grade one intake. One parent raised concerns about noise and about discarded building material on the grounds; the school says work areas are to be fenced off. Police were deployed in numbers across Hanover after reports that some public transport operators intended to disrupt the day.
In Trelawny, Muschett High School ran its morning and afternoon shifts without major incident, principal Leighton Johnson said, even with three laboratories and some teachers’ cottages still to be restored.
LRTVS News Desk
Leave a Reply