ALL NOT PERFECT BUT CLASSES START, OTHER COMING SOON
Ocho Rios, St Ann; Nov. 17, 2025
School principals and administrators in St Ann are determined to get classes going again despite damage, sometimes severe, to the majority of more than 80 institutions in the parish.
The Ministry of Education, Youth, and Information has been pressing and encouraging school administrators to get classes going.
But schools are facing a triple hurdle, principals spoken to have told the North Coast Times.
(Books moved to centre of a classroom after they were wet)
First, there is damage to buildings and supplies, including instructional material such as books. Second, there is the downing of the internet, already poor in some areas, but now not available to most schools themselves. And third, consider too the fact that some communities are still cut off, and teachers and students don’t have electricity and water at home, making life difficult.
(Damage at Mount Zion Prmary and Infant where several of the translucent panels were blown away. School has a limited start Monday)
Yet many schools are fighting back thanks to resolute principals and their support, including Boards and teachers.
ONE STUDENT IN SCHOOL? WE’LL TAKE HER
Regional Officer for Region 3 (St Ann and Trelawny) in the Ministry of Education, Karlene Segre says All 123 public educational Institutions from infant, primary and secondary obtained some damage, some significant.
In her update for both parishes, made available to the North Coast Times, Ms Segre said, up to Thursday, Nov 13, “The Regional Office has confirmed that 53 schools have now resumed operations, offering either full face-to-face or partial instruction. This includes six high schools and 47 primary and infant schools. The phased reopening has strategically prioritized students in examination groups, including PEP grades 4-6 and the critical CSEC and CAPE cohorts (Grades 10-13), with schools implementing staggered schedules based on available space and the extent of storm damage.”
Some schools are opening by Monday, Nov. 17, with others working hard to get started by Monday Nov 24. But other schools can give no date for resumption because of the degree of damage to their plants.
(Portion of St Hilda’s High, Brown’s Town)
Ms Segre says, “Despite the progress, significant challenges are at hand. The biggest issues the schools face include the loss of roofs, broken electrical fittings, damage to walls and furniture which are critical. In addition the issues with widespread absence of effective telecommunications, a lack of electricity across communities in both parishes, and a critical shortage of running water has prevented a few others from reopening.”
(Students in the first St Ann public school to open after Melissa, at Exchange Primary, near Ocho Rios)
At the tertiary level things are no netter. The two main tertiary institutions in the parish Moneague Community College and Brown’s Town Community College are constantly assessing their resources against the needs of the students and faculties. They both closed days ahead of Melissa and have yet no schedule for resuming classes. Brown’s Town Comm C was badly damaged. Moneague College still has no water or electricity on its main campus
