—Ministry of Sport pledges $3m
The country’s premier secondary learning institution Queen’s College (QC) is a step closer to constructing a brand new pavilion on the school’s soil after receiving major contributions and pledges from stakeholders.
The institution held its annual Inter-House Sports Athletic Championships on the field behind the school, Thomas Lands, last week, the venue which has hosted the event for the decades. Stakeholders used the occasion to make the contributions to the school.
Leading the list of contributors was the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, which pledged to donate G$3 million. Director of Sport Neil Kumar was present at the occasion. Speaking on behalf of the ministry, Kumar stated that Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, was himself a former student of the prestigious institution and also has two children currently attending the school.
Frank Debreu, an executive of member of the Queen’s College Board of Directors, donated G$1.5 million on behalf of DeSinco Trading. Queen’s College Old Students Association Worldwide (QCOSA Worldwide) gave back G$2 million while the Queen’s College Parent Teachers’ Association (QCPTA) and Queen’s College Old Students Association’s New York Chapter (QCOSA NY) contributed G$ 1 million each.
At present the school’s old pavilion does not have suitable accommodation for the students and is in a deplorable state. Organisers have improvised in past years by renting tents and plastic chairs to accommodate students and patrons of the always exciting event.
Headmistress of the institution, Nadia Hollingsworth, was pleased with the generous contributions of the various stakeholders towards the development of well-rounded individuals of the school. Hollingsworth said that construction of the facility is expected to begin soon as the contributions and pledges represent the majority of the estimated cost of construction. An outstanding sum of G$5.5 million is still needed for the completion of the facility.
QC is one of the few schools with an active sports curriculum, which includes two physical education teachers and participation in close to 10 sports disciplines including badminton, athletics, volleyball, table tennis, cricket and football. Over the past five years, QC has captured more medals at the Barbados Relay fair than any other local school.
