Hydel, Cumberland high merger hailed as win-win to build a stronger institution
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Minister of Education Senator Dana Morris Dixon (right) at the opening of the merged Hydel Cumberland High in St Catherine on September 7, 2026.
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Minister of Education Senator Dana Morris Dixon and stakeholders at a ceremony of the opening of the merged Hydel Cumberland High in St Catherine on September 7, 2026.
The merger of St Catherine-based high schools Hydel and Cumberland has been hailed as a win-win situation for both institutions by stakeholders who gathered on the grounds of Hydel Cumberland High in St Catherine this morning to commemorate the consolidation.
Education Minister Senator Dana Morris Dixon emphasised that the merger does not mean the erasure of either institution's culture; rather, it is an amalgamation of two rich histories.
“Our goal is to bring the best of two proud traditions together, building a new institution capable of achieving even more,” she said.
She noted that the decision to merge both schools was made to provide the best educational opportunities for students and also allow the Ministry to better utilise the resources at Cumberland.
“It doesn't make sense to have a school plant with a capacity of 1,200 and it only has a little over 300 students; that's not a good use of resources,” she said.
Hydel, a financially struggling institution, had issues surrounding its lease agreement with the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), which owns the property where Hydel was located.
The school owed the UDC large sums of money, according to sources.
The institution was also facing significant infrastructure deterioration.
Cumberland High was severely underpopulated.
Morris Dixon said rather than maintaining duplicated administrative support structures or undertaking significant new infrastructure expenditure, the Government had an opportunity to bring resources together and direct more of them towards teaching, learning and student development.
Principal of the new Hydel Cumberland High, Carlon Pitt, said the mission going forward is to build a school worthy of the children entrusted to its care.
- Sashana Small
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