By Anthony Joseph

When Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean, it not only destroyed homes homes and roads. It also disrupted dreams.

Thousands of families now face the impossible task of rebuilding their lives while trying to keep their children’s education on course. As schools reopens, one urgent question echoes across the region: will our students still be able to sit their Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) exams, if they can’t afford the fees?

For decades, CXC exams, from CSEC to CAPE, have been the ladder to advancement for young Caribbean students. These aren’t just academic tests; they are stepping stones to scholarships, employment, and higher education. They embody the promise that talent and effort can overcome circumstance. But this year, for many students in Jamaica, that promise hangs by a thread.

High-school guidance counsellor Andrea Wright, affectionately known as Delcita, painted a sobering picture of life for her students after the storm.

“The families of my Form Fives and Sixes were struggling before the hurricane,” she explained. “Now it’s worse. I would love to do an event to raise funds for them, but that can’t happen right now. With the fees at about 35,000 Jamaican dollars per student, an event would not even scratch the surface. I wish they would waive the fees for this year at least.”

Her words reflect the quiet despair behind the statistics. Students are turning up to school in borrowed uniforms, clutching damp notebooks rescued from floodwater and asking whether they should even bother to study for exams which they can’t afford to write.

In several parishes, school buildings have been turned into shelters for displaced residents, leaving classrooms packed with families and students unsure where or when classes will resume.

Many schools have yet to restore transportation for students living in outlying areas. Roads are blocked or washed away, forcing some teenagers to walk miles to attend classes. For others, the schools they once attended are now temporary homes for hurricane victims. These students must now rely on distant institutions offering limited spaces or online lessons, an impossible task in areas where internet access is nonexistent.

Governments are understandably focused on rebuilding physical infrastructure: clearing roads, restoring power, reopening hospitals. Yet if we are to recover as a region, we must also rebuild educational access. Reconstructing a school building means little if the students inside it can’t afford to write their exams. Education is not a luxury to be postponed until the economy recovers; it is the foundation of recovery itself.

Teachers, with limited facilities, are now working overtime to help students catch up on lost weeks of instruction. Many are using their own money to buy supplies for students who lost everything in the floods. But they can only do so much. When a family cannot afford an exam fee, no amount of extra tutoring will help close that gap.

CXC and ministries of education should urgently create fee-relief programs for affected students. A one- year waiver or deferred-payment option could mean the difference between an interrupted education and a salvaged future. To its credit, the CXC has shown flexibility during crises. It can again show leadership by working with governments and donors to ensure no child is left behind.

This is not just Jamaica’s problem. Each Caribbean nation is one hurricane away from facing the same dilemma. The region needs a disaster-education safety net, a fund that guarantees continuity of learning and exam access after natural disasters.

Global partners such as UNICEF and the World Bank should help subsidize exam fees for students in disaster zones. Climate change is a global problem and its impact on education in small island states demands a global response.

But it’s not only about money. It’s also about mental health and community stability. Students who have lost homes or loved ones are carrying invisible trauma into the classroom. Without counselling, many will struggle to focus or find motivation.

An exam waiver won’t solve everything but it will offer a clear signal that society hasn’t forgotten them, and that their future still matters.

Caribbean communities abroad, in Canada, the United States and the UK, also have an important role to play. Many of us have benefitted from the CXC system. We understand its power to lift a generation.

Imagine if every Caribbean household abroad “adopted” one student this year, covering their exam fees or providing study materials. This would help thousands of students remain on track academically.

Community associations, alumni networks, and church groups could also rally around this cause, turning collective pride into tangible support.

The diaspora has already proven its generosity in times of disaster, from shipping barrels to rebuilding homes. This time, we can send much needed educational opportunites.

The Caribbean Examinations Council, under the leadership of Registrar and CEO Dr. Wayne Wesley, has the authority to make an extraordinary gesture of solidarity and compassion.

Announcing a one-year fee waiver or deferral for hurricane-affected students would send a powerful message that the CXC’s mission to empower the region through education is more than a slogan.

A compassionate policy now would protect CXC’s reputation as an institution that understands the region’s social and economic realities. It would also restore hope to teachers and families like those Delcita describes, people fighting to keep their children’s futures alive amid the rubble.

Hurricane Melissa tested our infrastructure, but it also tests our humanity. Will we allow hardship to silence a generation’s potential, or will we ensure that learning continues, even when life itself is uncertain?

Our students have lost homes, books, and sometimes entire communities. They should not lose their chance at education too. If ever there was a time for compassion, flexibility, and bold cooperation, this is it.

Let us not fail our children when they most need us. When the next hurricane comes, and come it will, the true measure of our resilience won’t be how fast we rebuild structures, but how faithfully we protect our children’s right to dream, to learn, and to succeed.

Anthony Joseph is the publisher of The Caribbean Camera newspaper. He writes on politics, culture, and the intersection of race and democracy in Canada.

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