The more than 1,000 students at the Kellits High School in Clarendon will have to put up with a double-shift system for at least another term as the planned expansion of the school is now set to be completed in April.

The work should have ended this month, but a source at the institution told the Observer that so far, only some excavation work had been undertaken.

School officials were hoping that the $2-million contract signed in September last year for the construction of five classrooms would allow the school – which has been functioning with a double-shift system because of overcrowding – to return to its original single-shift system this month.

“I’m not aware that we will be making the transition [to single-shift]; it will still be a double-shift system,” a source said.

Sharon Wolfe, communication director for the education ministry’s Transformation Programme, which is funding the expansion, told the Observer that the delay was because of a ‘substantial design change’ which came after the contract was signed. She said a request by the school for the addition of a staff room, which it does not presently have, has meant changes in the building specifications. This, Wolfe said, would set completion back by about two months.

Meantime, member of parliament for Northern Clarendon, Health Minister Horace Dalley – who had attended the signing – said while he could not comment on the contract, he was “disappointed that the contract was not administered in the time agreed”. He noted further that, based on the time it was signed, the work should have been completed already.

“I can’t comment on the contract but only to say I’m sorry it has taken this long,” he said.

Last year, 3,680 school places were identified for the secondary level, but a more detailed review revealed that more places would be needed to address the population explosion in St Catherine and Clarendon. Both parishes, which fall in the ministry’s Region Six division, have been seeing an increase in population over the years, leading to overcrowding in several schools.