Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon, says the Hurricane Melissa reconstruction programme has presented an opportunity to make schools more resilient.
In her 2026 Back-to-School broadcast on September 5, Senator Morris Dixon said some 688 schools were damaged by the hurricane, and that 313 of these were severely damaged.
“Almost $26 billion is being spent on the repairs and reconstruction of our schools. The repairs are not advancing as fast as we would like in some schools but once we have this work completed, our schools will be stronger than ever,” she continued.
The Minister expressed thanks to the excellent work of principals, boards and the Ministry team, noting that it is expected that all schools will open today (September 7), even where repairs are not completed.
“I thank our principals, teachers, and contractors… and I want to say a special thank you to every single mason, carpenter, electrician, plumber who has worked on our schools. You are true heroes and we salute all of you,” she said.
“Our Melissa reconstruction programme has not only presented an opportunity to make our schools more resilient, but it has also provided an opportunity to upgrade and renovate staffrooms for educators across Jamaica. The Staffroom Renovation Programme covers 74 institutions in the first phase, with work concentrated heavily in the parishes hardest hit by Melissa,” she added.
The Minister also disclosed that there are more improvements under way beyond hurricane repairs, and that an unprecedented $400-million investment is being made into technical and vocational education in high schools.
“Starting with our technical high schools, each of our technical high schools will be receiving one state-of-the-art laboratory in new areas such as autonomous robotics, renewable energy, virtual welding, electrical engineering, industrial controls, and optoelectronics,” Senator Morris Dixon said.
Also, through the Jamaica Education Programme, the Ministry is retooling science labs.
“We cannot become a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) country without having equipment in our bio, physics, and chemistry labs. Students of today must be given the space and exposure to the best equipment to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow’s industry,” she stated.
In terms of connectivity, more than 150 satellite systems have been distributed to schools, with more devices in procurement to add another level of access to the Internet in even the most rural institutions.
“We are building back our schools better than they were before,” the Minister said.