Come next year September, for the first time in its 79 year-old existence, the Franciscan Sisters, an order of Roman Catholic nuns will not operate the Mount Alvernia High School in Montego Bay.

According to the principal of the institution, Sister Angella Harris, their withdrawal resulted from a steady decline in the number of ladies who have offered themselves to be inducted in the convent.

"When I entered the convent in 1985 there were over 40 sisters in the island now there are about 23 of us and most sisters are over 65 years old now, it's a matter of personnel being short," she noted. Full story