Ebony Grove High starved of students

POINT, Hanover — Despite a record of outstanding performance, Ebony Grove High School in Clarendon, has not received any new Primary Exit Profile (PEP) students since 2021. Now struggling with an enrolment crisis, school officials have been assured that help is on the way.

“This is the only high school in Region 7 that needs help. Yes, unapologetically I say that. We have a history, we have been in existence for over 30 years. We are underpopulated, and I know that we haven’t had any PEP students since 2021,” said Principal Marjorie Manning, who took office in May of 2025.

She was making a passionate plea for assistance from the Government during the Ministry of Education Region Seven School Leadership Conference 2026, held at the Grand Palladium Hotel in Hanover, on Monday.

Region 7 comprises 109 public schools in Clarendon — five standalone infant schools, 86 primary schools, and 18 high schools.

Manning urged her colleagues from primary schools to support the institution.

“I’m happy the primary schools are here, and I want to say to them, ‘Ebony Grove High School is a school!’ And I’m asking whatever can be done to assist us from [the] central ministry along with Region 7 to help us to become fully, fully on-board so that we can operate like any other of the 17 high schools [in the parish],” she continued.

Founded as a private institution in 1995 via the Inter-American Foundation, Ebony Grove High was signed over to the Government in 2016 following the founder’s death in 2013. Currently, the school operates under a subvention model, with the Government covering academic, administrative, and ancillary staff salaries.

Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon (left) is shown a bottle of hot pepper sauce produced under the Ebony Grove High School’s agro-processing programme by principal of the institution Marjorie Manning during the recent graduation ceremony held at the institution’s campus in Clarendon. (Photo: JIS)

Located on 30 acres in Toll Gate, the school offers a broad curriculum but lacks facilities for physics, chemistry, and biology. However, it maintains a strong building technology programme that is currently being aligned with the NCTVET framework.

While online documentation has indicated that Ebony Grove High historically boasted an enrolment of 400 to 500 students, no current data has been provided.

The school has been receiving good reviews and Manning is determined to return the institution to its former glory.

“Give us an ear, give us an eye. I am a young principal, I have the vision — we have the vision at Ebony — and I’m saying we just need the help. Whatever can be done to assist us, we are flexible, we have space, and we have all that you need. Help us to become a high school,” she pleaded during the conference when the floor was open to questions and comments.

In response, Acting Chief Education Officer Terry-Ann Thomas Gayle assured Manning that officials at the regional level have been working to assist the school and the issue has now made its way up the chain.

“They have been one of your advocates without you even knowing. They have developed a plan for you, but we just need to present it. So you will be contacted,” assured Thomas Gayle.

“There are certain decisions that were made that have to go through certain [government] processes that we [education ministry] have no control over,” she added.