MANDEVILLE, Manchester — School leaders in Manchester and St Elizabeth are ramping up preparations days ahead of the new academic year starting Monday, despite challenges at some institutions with overcrowding and well-needed repairs.

The leaders of Mile Gully High, May Day High, St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), Aberdeen High, Harry Watch Primary, Mile Gully Primary, Holland Primary and St Alban’s Primary and Infant School are for the most part pleased with the preparatory work which is nearing completion.

Principal of Mile Gully High in north-west Manchester, Christopher Tyme said the school is ready for the academic year; however, he is now hoping to fill a vacancy following the resignation of a mathematics teacher on Tuesday.

At the same time, Tyme said two students have been transferred from Troy High, near the north-west Manchester/southern Trelawny border, to Mile Gully High due to a collapsed bridge.

“They couldn’t go to the other side to get to school so they have come to here… It would be easier for them to come to this side,” he explained.

Principal of May Day High in Manchester, Stanford Davis said the school is in need of a new classroom block. “We have the problem of overcrowding, which is a major problem. We don’t have any staffing issues as yet…. I have had many people applying to teach at our school and we don’t even have space for them,” he shared.

“Generally speaking, we should be okay. I am hoping the furniture will be okay based on what we had, what we purchased, and what we repaired,” he added.

Principal of St Elizabeth Technical High School, Keith Wellington said the school is hoping to fill job vacancies in two subject areas.

“We should be okay. Things are falling into place. A couple teacher vacancies not yet filled but, outside of that, we will be okay. Mechanical engineering and geography are the two that we are most concerned about now,” he said.

Chairman of Aberdeen High in northern St Elizabeth, Anthony Foster said the school’s infrastructure, which was badly damaged during a freak storm on July 2, will not be ready in time for Monday.

“Right now we are doing some repairs. Work is going on. The cottage that houses the maths and guidance counselling departments, nurse and the physical education department, that roof is back on now,” he explained.

“They [workmen] are actually on the classroom block which houses the principal’s office and the library also, but we understand that we might not get it until about the middle of October,” he added.

“We will have to work with what we have. We will basically be without two classrooms for September,” said Foster.

And principal of Harry Watch Primary in northern Manchester, Fitzroy Francis said preparations there are in high gear. “At this point we are about 95 per cent ready and we should be complete by Friday,” he said.

He said students are excited to return to school to use the information and communication technology (ICT) room that was funded by Digicel Foundation.

“The Ministry of Education provided us with an information technology teacher so the students have started to use the room from last term and they will be continuing to use it for September,” he explained.

Principal of Mile Gully Primary in north-west Manchester, Heiley Salabie-Knight said all is in place for the return of students to the classroom.

“We are ready for [next] Monday. We have adequate furniture, adequate teachers. We have received our financial resources. We have our grounds ready — as a matter of fact students have been coming as early as yesterday [Monday] for orientation so we are on our mark, get set, and Monday morning it is a go,” she told the Jamaica Observer Tuesday.

Principal of Holland Primary, Simone Doctor said she met with Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth North Western JC Hutchinson on Tuesday.

“[It is now for him] to find out some of the issues with the back-to-school and to tell us some of the plans that he has in place and to see how best he can assist us… [We have] an issue with a bathroom but we are slated for a renovation,” she said.

Meanwhile, Chris Dubidad, principal of St Alban’s Primary and Infant School, located in a remote area close to Malvern in the Santa Cruz mountains, said the school is in a better position to transport students.

“There is no public transportation. We went on a drive last year and luckily, a past student donated some money and we made that up and we bought a new bus so we have a Toyota Hiace to [transport] the students,” he said.