Region One is expected to have a brand new secondary school within the next seven to eight months.
This is according to the Ministry of Education, which yesterday signed contracts worth over $2 billion for the construction of the Kwebanna Secon-dary School in Barima/ Waini.
The signing ceremony was held in the ministry’s boardroom in the presence of Education Minister Priya Manickchand, Permanent Secretary, Alfred King; contractors and others.
The school when completed will house over 600 students from Kwebanna and other villages.
Touted as one of the schools that will be equipped with modern amenities, when completed, it will house over 30 classrooms, laboratories for physics, chemistry, biology, information technology, TVET, home economics, and industrial technology. It will also have an auditorium, a staff room, and will be powered by solar energy
Additionally, there will also be a dormitory to house some 250 students and duplex living quarters for 25 teachers will also be constructed. And in acknowledgement of the need for safety, the school is expected to have fire escape exits, escape doors, fire alarms, fire extinguishers, limited timber usage, metal ceilings, and fire retardant panels.
This project comprises a six-lot facility and all works are expected to be carried out by Singh and Son Construction, Bree’s Enterprise, Supreme Contracting and Supplies, and AS Construction.
At the signing ceremony, Manickchand said that the school represents an aggressive push to have facilities that were never had before, and also to improve universal secondary education. The school, she added, will form part of the drive to build capacity by producing graduates who can enter the world of work.
“We need these schools, this school particularly, to be able to offer quality education. This school will change lives and give people opportunities they never had before…There’s going to be a point where 10 to 15 years from now, the children going to this school are going to be the teachers of the school”, she said.
As such, the minister said that these projects are important and urged contractors to ensure that the work is done properly. She warned, “Again, this was divided into six lots because we want simultaneous work happening at the same time. If you can’t do it according to your contractual terms we are going to have to apply damages.”
Manickchand noted the school’s importance in addressing the overcrowding issue.
“There are children in various rivers, where they are just literally marking time in primary schools until they age out. So, we need these schools to be able to offer quality education. It’s going to change lives,” she said.
