The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

HUGH Campbell Primary School students and teachers in Grand Bahama will return to their classrooms today after power was restored following repairs to damaged underground electrical wiring in the area.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) gave the update while announcing the completion of all necessary electrical repairs on the campus.

"Effective Tuesday, 3 November 2026, all students, teachers and staff will return to the school's campus for regular operations/classes," the Ministry said in a statement.

The statement came after The Tribune reported that the Mahogany Street school had been without electricity for two straight days last week.

A parent who wrote to The Tribune said they discovered the outage while dropping their child off on two consecutive mornings, and that parents had not been officially notified.

The parent said classrooms without power lacked proper lighting and ventilation. While unforeseen problems happen, the parent said, families should not be kept uninformed about them.

The Ministry subsequently issued a statement apologising to parents and explaining that damaged underground electrical wiring had caused the disruption in power supply.

Officials then made arrangements for students to be temporarily relocated to three locations to minimise disruption to teaching and learning as repairs were carried out.

The Ministry also expressed gratitude to the Church of God, Christ the King and the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) for providing accommodation for students, teachers and administrators during the disruption.

"The MOEST remains committed to providing safe, conducive learning environments for all students and staff while minimizing the disruption to teaching and learning," the statement said.

The outage comes amid wider frustration over power problems at government schools since classes resumed in September.

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Chester Cooper has called outages “an inconvenience”. He has said the ministry does not immediately send students home when the power goes off, but tries to continue instruction.

Opposition deputy leader Shanendon Cartwright has repeatedly demanded to know what contingency plan the ministry has to keep schools running during prolonged outages.

Hugh Campbell Primary has lost power before. In June 2014, it was among 18 public schools in Grand Bahama disconnected by the Grand Bahama Power Company over more than $1m in unpaid government bills, before the Ministry of Finance settled the debt.