ST GEORGE’S, GRENADA: Thirteen of the 22 secondary schools and 22 of the 41 primary schools here have re-opened their doors for the first time since the passage of Hurricane Ivan which devastated the island on September 7th. This first term was brought to a premature pause on the schedule second day when the island was swept by the destructive storm, which left most of the school buildings in ruin. The three major secondary schools in the city – the Grenada Boys Secondary School (GBBS), Anglican High School (AHS) and St Joseph’s Convent – however are among the schools that did not re-open Monday. The Happy Hill Secondary School on the outskirts of the city has also not re-opened. GBSS, the island’s most prestigious boy’s school, and AHS, its girl’s equivalent were particularly hard hit. The secondary schools that did re-open brought out mainly their senior forms – four and five – eager to get their preparation for the end of school year’s external examinations back on track. But the Grenada Seventh Day Adventist School in the northern part of the island called out its entire school population. Its building was one of the few schools that remained relatively intact following the storm’s passage. All three secondary schools in Grenville, Grenada’s east coast town, reopened Monday. It was a hardly ideal day on Monday, with most classes being held under the blue glow of tarpaulin covering missing roofs and without power, but Education officials were eager to return to some form of normalcy. A few hundreds of the students who were there on September 6th were however missing -- those whose parents had sent them to neighboring islands, and in a few cases the United States to continue their education amidst the disruption and devastation. Education officials were hardly eager to take up CARICOM countries on their offer to provide school placings for the island’s misplaced students, believing that they will be better served in the long run by staying at home. But in the new environment there are no operational rule books to follow – many institutions simply making it up as they go along. Monday resembled a mass national meeting of the island’s student population, with many of the schools also planning PTA meetings this week. Schools on Grenada’s ward islands of Carriacou and Petit Martinique opened three weeks ago and are now into regular classroom operations. The northern islands escaped relatively unscathed by the storms which blew Grenada back on the edges of the dark ages. The Ministry of Education says it hopes to have all schools re-opened by the end of this month and are looking at ways to make up for lost time for students who will be sitting CXC exams. This could include shortening to the planned holidays for both Christmas and Easter. Meanwhile the Venezuelan Government have adopted 23 primary schools which they will be rebuilding, and Digicel one of the island’s mobile phone providers here has pledged its support to rebuild the T A Marryshow Community College and the Grenada Boys Secondary School. SOURCE: CARIBUPDATE.COM