KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon, says the ministry will maintain close oversight of the rebuilding of schools damaged by Hurricane Melissa as the Government works to ensure that the institutions are restored with greater resilience.

“I’ll continue to show up unannounced. That’s not going to stop,” Senator Morris Dixon said during her back-to-school readiness visit to Ferris Primary School in Westmoreland, on September 2.

She explained that independent personnel, along with members of the ministry’s leadership team, will also be visiting schools and submitting reports, which will be compared with contractors’ updates to identify discrepancies and determine where intervention is needed.

Morris Dixon noted that rehabilitation is progressing at different rates across the schools, prompting the need for continuous monitoring to ensure that students can return to their designated spaces as quickly as possible.

“We have to continue monitoring when school has opened,” the minister stressed.

Morris Dixon said the Government is also using the opportunity to improve the resilience of the facilities rather than simply restoring them to their pre-hurricane condition.

Measures include rainwater harvesting systems, solar technology where possible, hurricane straps on roofs, improved windows and slabs, with resilience being considered against both hurricanes and drought.

The minister acknowledged that the additional work can affect the time required to complete some projects but said the long-term benefits are greater.

“What that means, though, is that it may take longer for each of the repairs, but in the long run it will be beneficial to the country as a whole,” she said.

As the physical rebuilding continues, the Government is also working to restore the resources needed to support teaching and learning.

Morris Dixon said additional desks and chairs are being procured and distributed to replace furniture damaged during the hurricane, with the process continuing throughout the school term to meet the needs of affected institutions.

The ministry has also procured approximately $700 million in books for primary and high schools, with distribution ongoing.

Morris Dixon urged principals to ensure that the materials are properly used and handled, particularly to allow other students to benefit from them under the high-school rental book programme.

Meanwhile, Morris Dixon said the extensive rehabilitation exercise has provided the ministry with valuable lessons that should strengthen its response to future emergencies.

She said managing 300 separate contracts and scopes of work, alongside multiple stages of review, has helped the ministry identify ways to streamline the process while maintaining the necessary checks.

The experience, she said, has allowed the ministry to develop greater capacity to manage large-scale emergency rehabilitation, adding that it has built knowledge on how to undertake similar work more efficiently and quickly in the future.

— JIS