Hydel, Cumberland High Schools to Merge, Education Ministry Says

The Jamaican Ministry of Education has announced plans to merge two St. Catherine-based schools, Hydel High and Cumberland High. Education Minister Dr. Dana Morris Dixon revealed the decision during a press conference on Monday, stating that the government had to intervene in the operations of the private Hydel Group of Schools at the secondary level.

Morris Dixon explained that the ministry has been covering the teachers' salaries and all bills for Hydel High. The merger is influenced by challenges with Hydel's current location and the underutilization of Cumberland High's facilities, which has many empty classrooms. "The ministry has been looking at a merger of the two schools and having one plant, and that is what we are in the process of working through," she said.

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For some time now, the ministry has been paying the teachers; we’ve paid all of the bills for that institution.

Consultations with teachers and other stakeholders are currently underway. Hydel High School, founded in 1993 by Hyacinth Bennett, was originally in Kingston before moving to its current campus in Ferry, St. Catherine.

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I remember going to that school and walking around and seeing tonnes of empty classrooms, so it was operating well below its capacity, and so the ministry has been looking at a merger of the two schools and having one plant, and that is what we are in the process of working through.