In a bid to create a conducive environment for over 900 students enrolled at Queen’s College, a $103.5 million wing to accommodate Sixth Form students opened on Tuesday. It comes as the school’s population continues to grow.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand commissioned the new wing at the school’s Camp Street Campus on Tuesday when she related her concern over the school’s condition prior to this addition. She noted that there was a need for more space at the prestigious institution.
“I was worried that any child who gets scratched from the furniture could get tetanus, I was worried about the condition of the mere wall of the classrooms and I was worried about space.
“Because of what your school has to offer and because you have a duty when we find something good anywhere in the world to make sure we multiply that goodness in as many homes and as many communities as we can.
“We look to see how we could offer more students seats at this prestigious college,” Minister Manickchand told an auditorium filled with students, teachers and board members,” the Minister said.
In 2020, Minister Manickchand visited the school and noted that there was a need for an expansion of the facilities there. Then in 2022, this building was approved. Within a year of construction, the project was realised.
As such, the “Mr Doodnauth Hetram Block” was established, a symbol of the impressive contributions Mr Hetram made to the school over the course of 19 years.
Principal of the school, Rajkumarie Lall said this addition is in keeping with the theme for education month: “Investing in People, Changing Lives”.
“With the growing population, classes were forced to be held under the tent, the library and most times this was not conducive for learning both for students and teachers,” the Principal said.
Hailed the premier secondary school in the country, it is only fitting that this school underwent the much-needed extension for the level of learning required by its students. This building has laboratories and classrooms to accommodate Sixth Form students.
At this time a new building to accommodate home economics is also being constructed. The minister said that there are heavy investments made in the education sector.
“We need to see better results from the children across the subjects, we need to see a hundred percent matriculation rate, we need to see more uptake of some of the subjects we’ve never seen,” the Education Minister said.