Mile Gully High ‘not fit’ for education, JTA president declares

WESTERN BUREAU:

Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President La Sonja Harrison has described the condition of Mile Gully High School in Manchester as unacceptable, declaring that it is “not fit to carry out the business of education”.

Harrison made the observation during a question-and-answer session with Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon at the recently concluded 62nd annual conference of the JTA in Trelawny.

According to Harrison, she observed the conditions at Mile Gully High during a recent visit to the institution and questioned why the school had been allowed to remain in its current state despite years of discussion about its relocation.

“I don’t know the principal at Mile Gully, but I can remember going there on campaigning. That school has been on task of being relocated for years, and the school remains in [its deplorable state]. It is not fit to carry out the business of education,” she said.

Harrison further argued that the situation at Mile Gully was symptomatic of a broader infrastructure problem affecting Jamaica’s education system and urged the Ministry of Education to increase its investment in school facilities.

“Infrastructural support needs more attention than just the 237 that is listed there, and the $100 million towards termite repairs, Minister. It needs a little more than that,” she said.

She also noted that many schools had remained virtually unchanged since they were constructed.

“We do know, in particular, that for many schools, the same way they were built, from the time they were built, they have remained in the same condition pretty much for their existence,” Harrison said.

Responding to Harrison’s concerns, Morris Dixon confirmed that the long-awaited relocation of Mile Gully High had already cleared a major approval hurdle.

PIAB PROCESS

“So, on Mile Gully, that one has gone through the PIAB (Public Investment Appraisal Branch) process,” she said, explaining that major infrastructure projects must pass through the PIAB process before receiving approval.

“Every time we want to do a big infrastructure project, the rules say that we have to go through this PIAB process, which is a very involved process just to get it approved,” she added.

According to Morris Dixon, the Mile Gully project received approval earlier this year, and pre-investment activities are now under way.

“We got Mile Gully approved earlier this year, and there’s pre-investment work taking place, which is doing the drawings and the assessments, and so on,” she said.

She added that funding has been requested in the next budget to continue the preparatory work and begin the initial phase of the project.

“So, Mile Gully, we have requested that funding for the pre-investment and also the initial work that will be needed, that goes into the next [2026-2027] budget, so Mile Gully is in train,” she said.

The need for a new facility at Mile Gully has repeatedly been highlighted by stakeholders.

In 2024, Mikael Phillips, the member of parliament for Manchester North Western, said the school had a capacity of about 730 students, but what was needed was a plant capable of accommodating between 1,200 and 1,500 students. He also raised concerns about condemned buildings, inadequate bathrooms, a leaking staff room, and makeshift classrooms.

More recently, Phillips renewed his call for a new school plant, saying the school had only five habitable classrooms and had been forced to use makeshift buildings after one structure was abandoned because of termite infestation and safety concerns.

The issue of overcrowding has also been documented. In 2024, the school, which was built for 400 students, had an enrolment of 585.

Relocation plans have been in the works for several years. In 2022, then Education Minister Fayval Williams said pre-construction activities would begin for a new school, including the transfer of the title for 40 acres of land in Manchester North Western to the Ministry of Education.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com