HOPETON DISTRICT, St James — Lives still upended by Hurricane Melissa, 25 students of Buckingham Primary in this rural community will today gather in the hall of the local Baptist church. Many prayers have already been said, many hopes pinned on how they will do in the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) exams.

“We have been putting in the work but I just hope that the trauma suffered from the hurricane won’t have too much of an impact,” Principal Shachea Chin told the Jamaica Observer.

“Some of our children, their houses are still damaged, they’re maybe living with somebody else, and so on,” she explained.

Chin said even with the challenges faced she and her team have tried their best to ensure their young charges are ready despite the upheaval caused by the Category 5 storm that ravaged seven of the country’s 14 parishes on October 28, 2025.

“We’ve had PEP camps in the Easter holidays, the teacher had extra classes after school, early lessons in the morning, as well, before we start school,” the educator outlined.

“We start school at 8:30 and so the children are out early in the morning, sometimes 7:30, so teacher can have early classes with them to make up for the gap that was there,” Chin added.

She thanked the members of her team, in particular her grade six teacher Chelsea Richards who, she said, went above and beyond in helping students prepare and guidance counsellor Lennessa Blake for providing psychosocial sessions aimed at helping the children deal with the trauma they have been facing since the storm. She also thanked the church for providing its hall for the exam.

“Special thanks to the Buckingham Baptist Church for housing us because they just took us in. It’s been tremendous and we are so grateful,” Chin said.

At John’s Hall Primary School, 51 students will be able to sit their exams at school but not in the classrooms where their sixth grade journey began. Hurricane Melissa forced them to move to an area previously used by first- grade students and that is also where they will be sitting the examination.

“It was a recent addition but it too was impacted; but we did a little fixing up,” Acting Principal Kathrina Reynolds told the Observer.

The school still shows the ravages of the storm. To ward off the elements a thin barrier of tarpaulin now covers most of its roof. Reynolds worries equally about the physical space and her students.

“The hurricane was a traumatic experience and up to now some of them have not really recovered from it and so from time to time will have sessions with guidance counsellor,” she said.

“We talked with them and know that only their best is good enough at this time. So we leave it in their hands to do what they can,” Reynolds added.

To give the students a fighting chance, the school has been offering extra classes in the mornings and afternoons.

“We are ready, ready as can be,” Reynolds told the Observer.

In January, the education ministry announced a number of changes to this year’s PEP schedules. These included pushing back the dates. Grade- six tests are slated for April 29 and 30; grade-five tests are on June 10, and grade-four students will sit their exams on June 24.

A section of the damaged roof at John’s Hall Primary School in St James.

One of the many damaged classrooms at Buckingham Primary School in St James.