Schools In Danger Zones For Flooding Will Not Be Ignored

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams, says the Government will not ignore the 440 schools rated as being in danger zones for landslide and flooding in Jamaica.

During her contribution to the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday (April 28), the Minister said that the World Bank and the University of Technology (UTech) did technical inspections of all the schools’ infrastructure, in an effort to categorise them based on their level of resilience.

“The data show that 440 of our schools are rated as being in the danger zone for landslide and flooding. We will not ignore this data,” Mrs. Williams said.

“Schools’ infrastructure is in great need for investment, and not just the buildings. Planning for school infrastructure going forward has to include adequate water and sewerage infrastructure, minimum bandwidth connectivity, technology in classrooms, and adequate electricity, with an emphasis on renewable energy,” she added.

The Minister said in looking at the current infrastructure, 17 per cent of schools have enrolment that exceeds 20 per cent of capacity. Additionally, shifts by school type show that five per cent of students in all-age schools, 11 per cent in primary schools and 18 per cent in secondary/high schools are still impacted by shifts in schools.