Mon | Feb 2, 2026

Hundreds of students still learning in borrowed space

Published:Monday | February 2, 2026 | 12:11 AMKaren Madden/Gleaner Writer
Roofs to several classrooms, auditorium and administrative buildings at the Westwood High School in Stewart Town, Trelawny, were severely damaged during the passage of Hurricane Melissa. Similar or more severe damage to other schools or home environments,
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Roofs to several classrooms, auditorium and administrative buildings at the Westwood High School in Stewart Town, Trelawny, were severely damaged during the passage of Hurricane Melissa. Similar or more severe damage to other schools or home environments, primarily in western parishes, resulted in students having to be hosted at other schools, primarily on the eastern side of the island.

Five hundred and eighty-three students remain temporarily relocated to other schools in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, which lashed Jamaica in October last year. The Category-5 hurricane was particularly brutal to the western end of the island...

Five hundred and eighty-three students remain temporarily relocated to other schools in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, which lashed Jamaica in October last year.

The Category-5 hurricane was particularly brutal to the western end of the island, leaving sections of Westmoreland, St Elizabeth, Trelawny, Hanover and St Ann in tatters and the education sector was not spared as several school buildings suffered varying types of damage.

Data provided by the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information show the worst damage sustained in regions 3, 4 and 5, which cover Trelawny, St Ann, St James, Hanover, Westmoreland, St Elizabeth and Manchester.

The ministry said the students were accommodated under the Host Schools Arrangement, which permits students to attend another school due to displacement following Melissa.

Under the arrangement, the student has not transferred from their home school, but is accessing education at another school as a temporary arrangement.

The 583 children still in the programme are drawn from across the seven educational regions, while other students having already returned home since the reopening of their schools and improvement in their home environment.

Region 1, covering Kingston and St Andrew, which was spared the full brunt of Melissa, is hosting the most students at 247. Region 2 - St Thomas, St Mary and Portland - is hosting 106, the second highest number of relocated students.

Twenty-one high schools - Winston Jones, Mt St Joseph Catholic, Bishop Gibson, Belair, Manchester in Manchester; Ocho Rios, Oracabessa, York Castle and Iona, in St Ann; Morant Bay and Paul Bogle in St Thomas; Marymount, St Mary and Annotto Bay in St Mary; St Jago, Jose Marti Technical, Old Harbour, Innswood, St Catherine and Bridgeport in St Catherine; and St Elizabeth Technical are hosting students from other schools.

Some 50 primary schools and special-needs school Windsor School of Special Education are hosting primary school-age children.

In the meantime, with stakeholders still reeling from the traumatic events stemming from the October 28 landfall of Melissa and the weeks following, the education ministry says it has institutionalised programmes and activities to support the psychosocial well-being of educators, students and parents.

“We have a cadre of helping professionals across the education sector to include guidance counsellors, school nurses, health and family life educators, deans of discipline supported by community pastors, school chaplains and other trained volunteers. In recent times, privately operated clinicians have been engaged to provide fully funded therapy to students, parents and school staff. Importantly, these persons are available to anyone who chooses to access the service, especially for individual counselling/therapy, which guarantees confidentiality and privacy that a group session cannot guarantee,” Kaydia Wilks-McCalla, technical support officer in the Office of the Chief Education Officer, told The Gleaner in an emailed response to queries from the newspaper.

Melissa disrupted classroom hours with one month to go before the end of the first term of the 2025-2026 academic year and several schools were forced to delay reopening for the Easter term due to damaged homes and schools.

Those lost hours came as the country was seeking to recover from learning loss sustained during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As it tries to claw back from those challenges, the education ministry said it has collaborated with regional offices and institutional leadership to develop a recovery plan which guided the phased reopening of schools and the continuation of learning.

Schools were first urged to ensure that they were safe to reopen and had to obtain clearance from the relevant authorities.

Schools were however allowed to adapt their reopening and instructional strategies to their realities, including varying levels of infrastructure readiness and Internet connectivity, with some schools opting for online learning or a mix of face to face and online learning.

karen.madden@gleanerjm.com

Breakdown of temporary relocations across regions:

Educational Region Parishes Total # of Students Hosted

Region 1 Kingston & St Andrew 247

Region 2 St Thomas, St Mary and Portland 106

Region 3 Trelawny and St Ann 4

Region 4 St James, Hanover and Westmoreland 21

Region 5 St Elizabeth and Manchester 83

Region 6 St Catherine 80

Region 7 Clarendon 42