KINGSTON, Jamaica — Following the widespread destruction caused by Category Five Hurricane Melissa, particularly in western Jamaica, Education Minister Dana Morris Dixon says her ministry is actively considering providing additional educational support outside the standard school term to address the anticipated learning loss.

She was speaking with Observer Online following a special media briefing on Monday.

“We have already taken on board that we are going to have to do some camps during the holidays, maybe even into the summer, to help those children to get back up to the level that they need to be,” the minister explained.

On Monday, 136 schools reopened less than a week after Category Five Hurricane Melissa wrecked the western end of the country. The decision raised public concern that the return to school was too swift given the devastation; however, Morris Dixon explained that the reopening process was being done carefully and with students and staff in mind.

“For those schools, they opened most of them just really for the staff to come in and to have some counselling sessions or just a talk about what they’ve been through after the hurricane and those that had students come in, their focus was also on the psychosocial support for those children,” she said.

The minister outlined plans to provide assistance to affected students.

“As a ministry, what we’re doing is trying to put together kits for those students, working with our guidance counsellors and our schools to help to distribute them to those children,” she said.

Noting that the ministry is exploring solutions to rebuild and maintain learning in areas where schools were destroyed, Morris Dixon reiterated that it will take some time for schools to return to normal, and said discussions are being had to decide the best way forward.

She said options being considered include setting up temporary tents, relocating students to other schools, or providing learning materials for use at home on certain days.

Minister Dixon also shared that the ministry is partnering with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to develop effective recovery strategies.

“UNICEF has experience around the world in terms of dealing with disasters and trying to bring up back a school system and so they’re working hand in hand with the Ministry of Education to help us to figure it out,” she said.

“We’re going to figure it out. We’re going to have to be flexible because the key thing is the welfare of our children and getting our children to get the education that they desperately need so that they can take off in this world,” she added.