Weeks ahead of the reopening of schools, Education Minister Senator Dana Morris Dixon lumbered from her desk at Heroes Circle to embark on an overdue visit to the schools that were damaged by Hurricane Melissa.
Having joined the government in May 2023 when she was appointed Senator, Dana served the Andrew Holness cabinet as Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, overseeing Skills and Digital Transformation. In October 2024 she was appointed Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, a portfolio she continues to hold today.
That the government moves at a snail’s pace when executing crucial projects is nothing new to Senator Dixon. Experience should have exposed her to the laxed way in which the people’s business is conducted under her government.
She is well aware that this same administration collected and continues to hoard funds donated to assist families devastated by Hurricane Melissa, despite egregious suffering.
It is the same government that undertook the repair of Cornwall Regional Hospital way back in September 2016, with a view to address the ventilation system and urgent roof leaks. At that time the job was estimated to cost J$2 billion. Ten years after many missed deadlines and massive cost overruns, the work is still underway, and the estimated cost now sits at a whopping J$23.5 billion.
But, for reasons known only to Dana, she expected that the repairs to the ravaged school buildings that started months ago were underway, going well and close to completion. If she were fast asleep to the truth of government runnings up to now, Senator Dixon was rudely awakened on her arrival at the ravaged schools.
According to news reports, Dana was deeply disappointed to see the slow pace and substandard quality of the reconstruction work at the sites. Things were lagging so far behind that there was no way to meet the scheduled school reopening date.
Senator Dixon was faced with the fact that after nearly one whole year since the hurricane hit the island, only 45 of the 310 schools that sustained severe damage from the storm were fixed. Yet, according to statements from her ministry, more than 100 schools are around 80 per cent complete, while others sit below 70 per cent completion. The education ministry also said that heavy infrastructural rebuilding under the multi-year recovery programme will continue through to 2030.
Public schools in Jamaica have always been far from perfect; many operate while undertaking construction projects. But hurricane ravaged buildings, with weakened foundations, presenting high levels of danger for students, teachers, auxiliary staff and administrators alike. The Senator should know that structurally compromised buildings pose severe physical, medical, and psychological risks.
Incomplete building repairs may be one of many items on Senator Dixon’s slate of woes, but she must also prepare for another bout of teacher migration that is set to shake the education system come September morning.
If nothing else, the Senator should be aware of the annual exodus of teachers from the nation’s school rooms at the end of the summer holidays. Thousands left the system over the past decade, and many more are preparing to go within the next few weeks.
Reliable records show that the teacher migration crisis peaked sharply following the COVID-19 plandemic. In the first nine months of 2022 alone, roughly 1,538 teachers resigned from the public school system, with over 1,400 leaving during subsequent high-migration periods.
Available studies indicate that Jamaica lost approximately 10% of its total teaching workforce to overseas jurisdictions in a brief two-to-three-year window during the height of the post-pandemic exodus. Surveys by the Caribbean Centre for Educational Planning suggest that roughly 49% of migrating teachers cite low wages as their primary reason for leaving, alongside poor working conditions and heavy workloads.
It is well-known to all and sundry that the gap between domestic pay and international offers to teachers remains a significant driver for migration.
Teacher shortage profoundly destabilises the public school system by lowering academic achievement, accelerating educator burnout, and deepening educational inequities. When schools cannot fill vacancies, the remaining staff and students bear the brunt of a compromised learning environment.
If low wage is the primary reason for the consistent exodus, Senator Dixon should roll up her sleeves and haul her self-indulgent, lackadaisical government over the coals while demanding better salaries for teachers.
The Senator knows that low wages cannot keep good teachers in a ramshackle system. Teachers use their own personal resources to prop up classrooms and help needy students, and the government’s measly proposal does not tangibly value or compensate this investment.
If the Senator and her government believe that recruiting teachers from other countries can fill the many vacancies that will continue to arise and keep the underpaid pop-down sector in check, then there is still a lesson they need to learn.
Foreigners come with a different language, accent and culture and are often ill-prepared for the unique challenges that Jamaican students present.
So, while she champions the National Student Dress and Grooming Policy aimed to standardise student attire and prevent drama at school gates, Dana must plan for the crises in the education sector come September morning. She could discover chained school gates and classes suspended indefinitely, and it will not be about uniforms.
Dana and her government must stop dawdling with the teacher wage dispute. As education minister, she must prioritise teacher retention, demand that dilapidated structures are urgently and properly fixed and school resource shortages. Most importantly, she must immediately ensure that righteousness is infused in all curriculum through regular devotions and Christian guidance.
Dana, now that you are awake, it is time for action. We pray that you will do it!
