Mahdia tragedy: Gov’t building secondary school at Micobie; girls from dorm will go to PC

The government has decided to build a new secondary school at Micobie in Region Eight (Potaro- Siparuni) as part of measures adopted to provide relief to communities in the aftermath of the horrific fire at the female dormitory of the Mahdia Secondary School in May.

This was revealed by Education Minister Priya Manickchand on Wednesday as the Committee of Supply examined $2 billion in supplementary funding requested by the Education Ministry.

Because of the fire, the entire female dormitory was destroyed.  Manickchand said members of the community and other stakeholders are opposed to rebuilding the dormitory at that location.

To cater for students, Manickchand said, “The decision of the Cabinet was to build a secondary school at Micobie which would take care of the Micobie children who were in the dorms as well as those who are now leaving Grade Six.”

She also noted that the girls in Grades Nine, 10 and 11 who resided in the dormitory will be housed at the President’s College in Region Four (Demerara- Mahaica) when the new school term commences in September.

The male dormitory for the Mahdia secondary school, which was not affected by the fire, will be opened as per normal.

Micobie is about an hour’s drive from Mahdia. With no secondary school in this community and other remote communities, many students across the region end up attending the Mahdia Secondary School. Those students stayed in the male and female dormitories.

But the deadly fire at the school’s female dormitory left parents concerned about their children’s safety. A total of 20 children, 19 girls and one boy, died as a result of that fire.