Reopening of all schools in Jamaica set for January 6 following Hurricane Melissa

Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon, looks at damage to a classroom at the Manchester-based Holmwood Technical High School, during a visit to the institution on November 2. Photo: JIS

At least 160 schools across Jamaica remained closed to teaching and learning in early December, weeks after the passage of Hurricane Melissa. But the expected reopening of schools is January 6, 2026, according to Fayval Williams, Minister of Finance and the Public Service.

Williams said 100 of the 160 schools not yet reopened were impacted by the Category 5 storm. Speaking during a meeting of Parliament’s Standing Finance Committee recently, she also disclosed that 59 schools are still being used as shelters for people displaced by the hurricane.

Of the 1,010 public schools nationwide, Williams said 721 were damaged when Hurricane Melissa tore through the island on October 28, leaving 290 schools deemed severely impacted. Despite that, she told the committee that 850 schools have already reopened.

To support recovery efforts, the government has allocated $616 million for school clean-up activities following the storm. An additional $1.7 billion has been earmarked in the Third Supplementary Estimates for public schools for the period ending March 31, 2026.

However, the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) has raised concerns about the planned January reopening, citing what it described as insufficient consultation by the Ministry of Education.

“At the end of the day, we’re going to be tripping over ourselves, and it will create a lot of inefficiencies in the system; and if we are not careful, the transition will not be as smooth as it could be,” JTA President Mark Malabver told The Gleaner.

Malabver said that while schools such as Manchester High School, Munro College in St Elizabeth, and St Elizabeth Technical High School are advanced or making progress with repairs, others remain far behind.

“It’s going to be a challenge, a major challenge to complete this in time for the start of the new year,” he said, noting that some institutions continue to function as emergency shelters, further complicating repair timelines.

The situation, education stakeholders warn, could make a smooth resumption of face-to-face instruction difficult when the new school term begins in January.