Gov’t to Provide Up to $1m In Clean-Up Grants for Hurricane-Affected Schools

Schools affected by Hurricane Melissa will receive grants ranging from $300,000 to $1 million to support clean-up activities.

The grants will be provided by the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, with disbursement scheduled to begin on Friday (November 14).

Portfolio Minister, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon, stated that allocations to institutions earmarked for support will be based on the scope of work required.

She provided the update during a press briefing at Jamaica House on Thursday (November 13).

Senator Morris Dixon advised that more than 600 schools were significantly impacted by Hurricane Melissa, which swept across the island.

“Yesterday (Wednesday, November 12), I was in Trelawny and St. James, and a lot of schools have suffered tremendous damage… some schools just don’t exist anymore. I went to one school where not one room can be used… so we are going to have to be very creative in trying to get schools back,” she said.

Senator Morris Dixon commended the efforts of school leaders, stating that principals and administrators “are working really hard on clean-up activities”.

“They have already started with members of the community. As I went around to schools yesterday, there were people from Kingston, from St. Catherine… football teams were working to help to clean the schools. So, the schools have started to clean up, especially in the west,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Minister advised that as of November 12, a total of 665 schools had resumed operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.

“We are getting the numbers up. We have a lot of challenges in the west, but we are working through those and we are hoping that within the next two weeks, at least all students who have external exams, whether CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate), CAPE (Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination) or PEP (Primary Exit Profile) will be back. So, we are prioritising those students in the west,” she stated.

Senator Morris Dixon emphasised that, “it will take some time to rebuild schools… but we do need to get those particular students out as quickly as we can while we look at our temporary structures”.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in New Hope, Westmoreland, on October 28, causing widespread damage across sections of Westmoreland, St. Elizabeth, St. James, Hanover, Trelawny, and St. Ann.