Despite Many Challenges, Jamaica Had a Successful Back-to-School Period
We note the current conversation regarding the recovery of the education system. Again, uh we have used this as an opportunity to consolidate some schools, to rebuild others, uh not just to repair, but to rebuild. And that is going fairly well. Uh I believe we have over 300 schools on our roster for repairs. Uh and we have advanced quite significantly, given all the challenges with procurement, contracting, weather, and all other challenges. And so, 1 year after the hurricane, we can say that we have had a successful reopening of the school year. Um granted, this morning, I was reading the newspapers, where they highlighted children learning outside the classroom under trees. When I was going to school, that was my favorite time, because the classrooms were so hot. You know, I'm not excusing the the lack of resources in some schools. So, but the truth is that sometimes, you know, I've visited the classrooms a few times. Granted, I visited them in my uh jacket and tie, and so I may be a little bit hotter than those in the classroom, but classrooms are unbearably hot, many of them. And so, we should not look down on having our children learn closer to nature, in cooler environs, uh and in uh a setting that is uh more supportive of learning. Now, our responsibility is not to explain away failures and shortcomings. Our responsibility is to fix them, to remove the bottlenecks, and to accelerate delivery.