More schools to be fitted with ramps for the disabled
Published:Sunday | May 20, 2018 | 12:00 AMJason Cross/Gleaner Writer
Come Labour Day on Wednesday, the process of increasing the number of public schools fitted with ramps to accommodate physically disabled students will begin.
Education Minister Ruel Reid said that roughly $50 million has been earmarked for the installation of ramps in schools. He was addressing the congregation yesterday during a National Workers' Week and Labour Day Thanksgiving Service at Portmore Holiness Christian Church in Portmore, St Catherine.
"The ramps in school project will commence on Labour Day at the St Ann's Bay Infant School in St Ann. The project will run for a period of one year in the first instance. We are looking forward to corporate Jamaica to complement that. We are eyeing 130 (schools in need of ramps) this year.
"We already have 127 primary schools, and 23 high schools that have been fitted previously with ramps. We have about 971 public, infant and high schools in Jamaica. We have more than 2,900 early childhood institutions. That means we have a lot of work to do. We have to get all these institutions retrofitted to include bathroom facilities, to ensure they are accessible to the physically challenged," Reid pointed out.
The theme for Labour Day this year is 'Ramp it Up, Fix it Up'.