With the current Dharmic Rama Krishna Primary School cramped for space, the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha will be constructing a $260 million state-of-the-art primary and secondary school at Liliendaal, as they aim to accommodate more than 1,000 students.
An event to bless the site allotted for the school’s construction, was facilitated on Monday.
According to president of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, who spoke to Stabroek News yesterday morning, the move was as a result of the inability of the current location to facilitate more than 300 primary school children, as well as their intention to develop a secondary learning institution.
“We have a primary school that has been functioning for about 20 years and we have been producing a number of excellent results over the years. One of our students topped the country [at the National Grade Six Examination] some years ago and we have students that have been falling in the top five, top 10, top 100, every year since and what we have realized within the last two to three years, is that we can’t accept any more students because we are challenged for space,” Persaud said, while pointing out that their current building in Kitty can only accommodate a little less than 300 students.
With the construction of the new Dharmic Rama Krishna Primary and Secondary School, they will be able to accept approximately 500 primary and 500 secondary students, taking the total capacity of the school to over 1,000.
The school will be built by R.S General Contractors.
“It’s two blocks – a two-storey block for the primary and a two-storey block for the secondary. However, there will be a third block that will have other facilities for classes that will have space for music, food and nutrition, arts, space for the computer and science lab that will be utilised by both sides of the school, and also stage space for performances and indoor facilities for sports,” Persaud further explained, while pointing out that they are hoping to be able to provide a well-rounded environment and experience for their students.
In addition to the national curriculum, they will also be offering extra-curricular activities, such as yoga, music, dance, public speaking, drama and Hindi, as well as other languages. Despite being a Hindu school, she noted that it will be open to children from every religious background and will also be run with a “not for profit” scheme that will allow them to have the lowest school fees when compared to other privately-run educational institutions.
Persaud noted that they are working on completing the school by the end of the year, with a September opening planned. However, currently, they have only raised approximately 50% of the total cost through fund raising activities hosted around the country over the last three years.
“We have not approached the Government for help and whatever we have gotten so far is through fund raising efforts, through concerts and other events, as well as donations from private individuals. The support is really from the people who want to see this happen and through our fund raising efforts but it’s a work in progress,” she stated.
In order to raise the remaining funds, the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha will be hosting more activities throughout the year, but Persaud also noted that they are appealing to public-spirited citizens that are interested in making donations to contact the treasurer of the Dharmic Sabha – Savitri Sukhai – on 225-1880 or to contact the Dharmic Kendra on 227-6181.
“We are grateful to those who attend our shows and other activities and to those persons who quietly contributed to this effort. All of our activities over the years are based on giving back to the country. Bal Nivas, our shelter in Berbice, is one of those and our Stadium shows and other activities allowed us to construct that home for children. The Guyana Hindu Dharmic Shabha invests in youth significantly and this is another project that focuses on education,” she added.
