MINISTER of Education Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon has announced that plans to construct a new building to house the Mile Gully High School in Manchester North Western are now far advanced and is a priority for the Government.

Morris Dixon was responding on Wednesday to Member of Parliament for the constituency Mikael Phillips who, on Tuesday, renewed his call for a new building to house the school amid reports that students are learning in intolerable conditions.

Speaking in the House of Representatives during the State of the Constituency Debate, Phillips said the school’s deteriorating physical condition is unacceptable, particularly given the academic achievements of its students.

He said only 10 classrooms at the school are currently fully habitable, although 21 are needed to properly accommodate the student population.

The MP said the problems include termite damage to the structure, a leaking staff room, inadequate bathrooms, and a canteen that is about half the size of a regular classroom, despite serving more than 700 students.

“To prevent total closure the teachers and students themselves had to build temporary classrooms out of donated materials. Forcing over 700 students into a compromised, termite infested space that lacks even half of the usable rooms required is an indictment on our priorities as a nation,” said Phillips.

He argued that despite the conditions the school continues to produce strong examination results.

He told the House that Mile Gully High recorded a 77 per cent pass rate in Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) English, 34 per cent in mathematics, 80 per cent in business subjects, 63 per cent in chemistry, and 85 per cent in technical and vocational subjects. He said integrated science and biology each recorded a 100 per cent pass rate, while the school achieved a 98 per cent Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) pass rate.

Member of Parliament for Manchester North Western Mikael Phillips making his contribution to the 2026/27 State of the Constituency Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

“Let those figures sink in, into the minds of the members of this House. Our students are delivering elite, national-level academic excellence while inhaling termite dust and sitting under leaking roofs,” Phillips said.

The MP said the concern is not only the condition of the existing school but the length of time the community has been waiting for a replacement.

According to Phillips. Windalco granted access to 40 acres of land for a new school site 12 years ago, but three years passed before the property could be transferred to the Ministry of Education.

Phillips said despite the time that has elapsed, construction has yet to begin on the site.

“A child who entered first grade when the land was secured has now grown up and graduated. Not yet a single physical brick has been laid on that property. Year after year, the Ministry of Education tells us that the plans are far advanced in drawings or shuffling through the Public Investment Advisory Board, the PIAB,” he said.

The prolonged wait, he argued, has fuelled frustration among residents who have seen repeated site visits and promises, without a corresponding start to construction.

Phillips said the consequences are also being felt beyond the school compound, with parents who want a safer environment for their children forced to spend more on daily travel to Mandeville.

He said the absence of a modern facility is also limiting opportunities for young people and contributing to a shortage of skilled labour in the constituency.

Phillips also questioned the allocation of resources across the education system, telling Parliament that about $1 billion had been spent on Holmwood Technical High School over the same period to provide additional classrooms, while Mile Gully and Christiana High schools have not received comparable investment despite facing space challenges.

Minister of Education Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon addressing the post-Cabinet media briefing on Wednesday. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

He acknowledged that the education ministry has requested funding for the initial phase of the Mile Gully project in the upcoming national budget, but said residents have heard similar assurances before.

“No more advanced drawings, no more exploratory committees. We want tractors on the ground and we want them now. Let us fund this school, build this community, and finally deliver the future our children deserve,” said Phillips.

Responding at the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing Morris Dixon said the project has advanced further than it has in previous attempts.

She said Phillips had raised the issue with her when she first became education minister, telling her that he had approached successive ministers without securing the project.

According to Morris Dixon, the school is now included under the ministry’s Primary and Secondary Infrastructure Programme (PSIT) and has progressed through the Public Investment Advisory Board (PIAB) process.

“We are very happy that it has reached the farthest it has ever reached,” Morris Dixon said.

She said the project had taken years to move through the PIAB process and has now been submitted to Cabinet for deliberation, before it can be placed on the public investment list.

“So what that means is that after Cabinet has given its approval we can now start to do the pre-work on Mile Gully, which is way more than we’ve ever been able to say on Mile Gully. And I spoke to Mikael this morning… and it matches back with what the principal has been told, and the principal has asked many times about Mile Gully and it’s a priority for the Administration,” Morris Dixon said.