Smooth Start to Classes at Jose Marti

Grades seven and nine students of the Jose Marti Technical High School in St. Catherine, who were unable to start classes with the rest of the school population due to incomplete classrooms, were finally able to do so on (Sept. 24).
Some 480 students of the school’s 2,000-student population were affected by the non-completion of a 12-classroom block, due to the effects of Hurricane Dean and the subsequent loss of electricity.
Principal of the school, Bevar Moodie, told JIS News that classes started smoothly for the students and everything is now in place including the required furniture.
He stated that the only incomplete portion of the project is the paving of the school yard. “What they have done is to marl the area, oil it, and to place sand on top of it but the actual paving is something that has to go to tender and can’t be done right now,” he explained.
He noted that ceiling fans will also be installed in the classrooms to combat the heat.
Mr. Moodie told JIS News that not all 12 rooms would be used for classes, as five will be used for curriculum support activities. “Some of them are going to be used to set up laboratories and workshop. one will be used as a garment construction room, one a library, and one will be used as a music cultural room,” he informed.
In the meantime, he indicated that “teachers in their creative ways, will make up for the lost time,” noting that “the students affected are not students with exams pending.”