It is a rough and testing start to the new school year, with many schools inadequately resourced and still damaged by Hurricane Melissa.

The drought is also a hindrance to many schools across Jamaica.

Then there is the cost of school books, which in the current inflationary environment, makes it an extra burden many parents just cannot afford, more so if they have more than one child at school.

Some argue that given the impact of Melissa, the government should have provided a shock absorber for school books this year. 

The problem is the government didn’t move quickly enough to repair schools and was ensnared in bureaucratic inertia. It was just too slow coming out of the blocks. 

Nevertheless, it has given the commitment that all schools will be opened. This in itself is commendable, and the country will have to accept the repair of schools will be a work in progress. 

The Minister of Education Dr. Dana Morris Dixon, has declared that the government will be making a special effort with nutritional and food requirements for schoolchildren. This should help reduce expenditure for parents. To feed school kids, the Ministry of Education will be getting help from the World Central Kitchen.  She revealed that $628 million has been set aside for school maintenance programmes.

Today Minister Dana Morris Dixon attended a ceremony celebrating the merger of Hyde and Cumberland High School in Portmore, St. Catherine. 

In her back-to-school message, the Minister of Education said: “It is back-to-school time again. Despite the historic, once-in-a-100-year devastation caused by the passage of Hurricane  Melissa, we ended the last academic year with improved results across major national examinations PEP, CSEC and CAPE. Jamaican children did so well despite so much being thrown at them. I am excited by the potential that the 2026/27 academic year offers.”

“Operational support for schools has increased by over $835 million. Jamaican schools on average have received on average a 55 per cent increase in funding.”

The Ministry of Education has put in place a number of contingency plans and shift systems to mitigate against the hurricane damage and its repercussions.

Minister Dana Morris Dixon had hoped that the speed of repair work would have been faster but one can’t cry over spilt milk.

She said $26 billion is being spent to rebuild and repair schools across Jamaica.