Sixteen government schools, 14 primary and two nurseries, are set to receive upgrades during the upcoming summer holidays.
According to Project Manager of the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development’s Education Project Implementation Unit (EPIU), Bruce Alleyne, “improvements to the schools’ physical infrastructure will cost government just over one million dollars.
“Upgrades will include electrical rewiring, roof repairs, construction of prefabricated buildings and general repairs to classrooms,” he outlined.
Work is scheduled to begin in earnest on June 30 with the expected date of completion slated for August 22. Mr. Alleyne explained that “with the adjustments to the end of this school year, the EPIU will be able to start work a little earlier”.
Those schools schedule for repairs are: All Saints Nursery, Cuthbert Moore Primary School, Government Hill Nursery School, Half Moon Fort Primary School, Luther Thorne Primary School, St Alban’s Primary School, St. James Primary School, St. Joseph Primary School, St. Judes Primary School, St. Patrick’s Primary School, St. Paul’s Primary School, Welches Primary, Wesley Hall Junior, Workman’s Primary, St. Bernard’s Primary and Hillaby Turners Hall Primary.
Mr. Alleyne added that “the EPIU will be constructing five pre-fabricated units during the summer programme.
They will be situated at Half Moon Fort Primary, St. Jude’s Primary, St. Patrick’s Primary, Welches Primary and Hillaby Turners Hall Primary. These units will help to ease congestion at these five schools,” he pointed out.
Mr. Alleyne also revealed that a car park would be constructed at the All Saint’s Nursery School, while St. Alban’s Primary will see the construction of a second nutrition room.
He explained that work executed during the summer vacation “falls under the Ministry’s Primary Education Domestic Programme.”
“This is an ongoing exercise, which addresses the maintenance of public schools. The major work done during the summer programme is intended to be preventative. We, however, also do regular maintenance work during the school year, and respond to various issues including plumbing and, electrical problems, and security issues,” Mr Alleyne pointed out.