Returning JTA president raises $18-billion school repair doubt

WESTERN BUREAU:

La Sonja Harrison, the newly reinstalled president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), wants the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth, and Information to say whether the $18 billion allotted for post-Hurricane Melissa repairs to affected schools is sufficient, especially for schools in western Jamaica, which took a battering from the Category 5 hurricane.

During her address on Monday at the JTA’s 62nd annual conference at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny, Harrison noted that approximately $5.6 billion of the $18 billion has already been allocated for schools affected across the ministry’s Regions 3 and 5. Region 3 covers the parishes of St Ann and Trelawny, while Region 5 covers St Elizabeth and Manchester.

“The state of our schools in the west is unacceptable for my child, your child, and all our ‘gingeration’ of relatives’ children who attend those schools,” said Harrison. “We hear that some $5.6 billion of the overall $18 billion, which is approximately 31 per cent, has been allocated to some 60 schools in Regions 3 and 5 alone, and that is approximately $93 million if the sum were to be divided equally.

“The question remains, how many other schools of the 600-plus institutions that reported damage from Hurricane Melissa have not yet begun any form of repairs? Additionally, if 60 schools have eaten away 31 per cent of the $18 billion, will the remaining 69 per cent be adequate to repair the approximately 530-plus schools that are left?” she continued. “Something must be done, as those heat furnaces (classrooms under tents) are untenable, and to subject any animal to those shelters is considered animal cruelty; how much more our nation’s future, our precious children, and those who serve them, our nation’s teachers?”

Up to July 20, approximately $3.86 billion had been spent under the Hurricane Melissa School Infrastructure Recovery Programme, with $24.8 billion budgeted for contracts to be settled. The programme, which will run until 2030, will cover 688 schools across the ministry’s seven administrative regions and is jointly managed by the ministry’s National Education Trust (NET), its Infrastructure Management Unit, and its Technical Services Unit (TSU).

Of the 688 affected schools, 311 are considered Priority 1 under the programme, having suffered severe damage. Of the 311 schools, 102 are situated within the education ministry’s Region 4, which encompasses St James, Hanover, and Westmoreland.

Harrison also told the conference that Jamaica’s leadership must decide how important education is and whether it will receive the investment needed for the nation’s adequate development.

“Education, aside from the pillars of the family and health, is the most critical to nation-building. Our human capital is our greatest asset and resource, and our people are our wealth. When will Jamaica decide what it will expend on funding education? Because what it currently spends is inadequate,” she said.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com