10 Jamaican schools that have been renamed Loop Jamaica

Black Immigrant Daily News

Name changes can come as a surprise to some people, especially when it comes to schools.

Take for instance the case of St James High.

This institution has been through the wringer over the years evolving through various titles: Montego Bay Senior School (1961), Montego Bay Junior Secondary, Montego Bay Junior High, Montego Bay Comprehensive, Montego Bay Secondary, until (drum roll please) … St James High.

Sometimes name changes are done to reflect a change in mandate, and to show gravitas. This topic was quite controversial and newsworthy in 1896 when the long-established College of New Jersey in the US changed its name to Princeton University. At the time, everyone hated the new name.

Locally, many schools have changed names from “college” to “university” or have been renamed for prominent individuals.

Sometimes, institutions are renamed because they were formed by the merger of multiple institutions. Take the case of CASE – the College of Agriculture Science and Education.

In 1942, the Government Farm school was renamed the Jamaica School of Agriculture (JSA) and in 1957 relocated to Twickenham Park, Spanish Town. In 1981, The College of Agriculture (COA), located at Passley Gardens, Portland, was established as the replacement institution for the JSA. The College of Agriculture Scheme Order of 1981 gave birth to the new institution with a new mandate.

In 1995, based on a recommendation of the Sherlock Report, the COA and PGTC merged to form the College of Agriculture Science and Education (CASE). Unlike its predecessor institutions which focused primarily on agriculture, CASE is a multidisciplinary institution offering professional training at the Diploma, Associate Degree and Bachelor’s Degree levels in Agriculture, Natural Sciences, Environmental Management, Business Management, Hospitality and Tourism Management and Teacher Education.

In May 2015, Balaclava High School in St Elizabeth was renamed Roger Clarke High in honour of the former member of parliament, who died in 2014.

In 2015, yet another high school was renamed this month for a politician. This time, it was the Islington High School, situated in Central St Mary, which was rechristened the Horace Clarke High School.

The Portia Simpson Miller-chaired Cabinet approved the renaming of the school in honour of former government minister Horace Clarke.

Several schools across the island have been named for politicians namely: Norman Manley, Sydney Pagon, Alexander Bustamante, Aabuthnott Gallimore, Robert Lightbourne, Edwin Allen, Howard Cooke, and Edith Dalton James.

In June 2018, the Bog Walk High School in St Catherine has renamed the Enid Bennett High School in honour of the late former state minister. Bennett was instrumental in the establishment of the institution and she played a key role in securing the funds and land for the construction of the school, along with Tacius Golding High School and Lucky Valley Primary School in the 1970s under the ‘New Deal in Education’. project.

In December 2019, the Spalding High School was renamed in honour of former principal Alphansus Davis, who served the 46-year-old institution for 31 years. During Davis’ tenure at the helm, a number of achievements were recorded.

Also in 2019, the Brimmer Vale High School, in St Mary, was renamed the Wycliffe Martin High School. Martin became Member of Parliament for St Mary Central in 1962 and was said to have made significant contributions to the development of the constituency and the parish.

In 2021, both the Denham Town Primary School and Denham Town Infant School, located in West Kingston, were officially renamed in honour of the late former Prime Minister and Member of Parliament for the area, Edward Seaga. The schools are now the Edward Seaga Primary School and Edward Seaga Infant School.

The parish of St Ann has paid tribute to the reggae icon Bob Marley by renaming the Stepney Primary and Junior High School Bob Marley Primary and Junior High School in 2013.

The University of Technology (UTech) started off academic life in 1958, initially as the Jamaica Institute of Technology. In 1959 the name of the institution was changed to the College of Arts, Science and Technology and it became incorporated in the College of Arts, Science and Technology (CAST) Scheme of 1959. This was validated by an Act of Parliament in 1964. In 1986, the CAST Scheme was revised in order to make the College a degree-granting institution, and the College became legally empowered to conduct its affairs under a governing Council and Academic Board.

The institution was formally accorded university status on September 1, 1995, as the University of Technology, Jamaica. The University of Technology, Jamaica Act 27 – 1999, which makes permanent provisions for the establishment of the University of Technology, Jamaica, was approved by Parliament on June 8, 1999, and signed into law by the Governor General on June 29, 1999.

So we end by saying, what’s in a name?

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