Education ministry eyeing new schools to meet Region Three demand

Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon, says available data indicate that the Region Three Educational Division requires additional schools, as changing population patterns continue to drive demand for student placements, particularly along the north coast.

She highlighted the rapid population growth in St Ann and Trelawny, noting that the corresponding rise in student numbers could require additional schools to accommodate future demand.

“There are many communities [where] we are seeing less people… less children; but there are also many communities where we are seeing an explosion in the population,” the minister said.

She was speaking during the Region’s Back-to-School Leadership Summit for Principals and School Board Chairs, held at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny on Tuesday.

In response to the growing demand for school places, Senator Morris Dixon said the ministry is assessing areas where additional capacity is most urgently needed.

She highlighted that plans for the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) school in Minard, St Ann, remain on track, noting that bids have already been received and are currently being evaluated, with a view to signing a contract before the end of the year.

“Minard alone is not enough. We’re going to need at least one more high school… it could be more than that. My role is to look at that and to start looking at how we solve it,” Senator Morris Dixon stated.

“We’re starting to put more energy into that to see what is needed in this Region, in terms of schools and the demographics, because it’s really shifting in this region significantly.”

In the meantime, the ministry continues to focus on upgrading facilities at existing schools.

Dr Morris Dixon noted that laboratories will be established at all technical high schools, adding that the programme will eventually be extended to other secondary institutions.

“We understand how important technical and professional education is. [So] we’re taking some funds from HEART/NSTA Trust to put into our technical high schools. But the next tranche that we will take from HEART will be for any high school. So we’ll also be rolling out some of these very high-end labs in other high schools… not just technical high schools,” she said.

The ministry is also preparing to roll out robotics and coding laboratories in several schools.

Senator Morris Dixon said funding for the initiative is already in place and that the ministry is working with the regional offices to identify the schools that will benefit.

She noted that the investments are intended to better prepare students for a future increasingly driven by technology.

- JIS

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