To address overcrowding and provide a comfortable environment for learning, a new secondary-level facility will be built at Tabatinga in Region Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo).
On Sunday, President Dr Irfaan Ali turned the sod to mark the beginning of the construction of the facility during a visit to the region.
The school, which will be constructed to the tune of $182 million is expected to be completed within the next eighteen months.
It will feature modern amenities which will integrate technology to make learning easier.
Upon completion, it will house 800 students, significantly easing the current overcrowding at the St. Ignatius Secondary School.
During his address, President Ali outlined that the government has been investing heavily to develop all of the sectors so that citizens can benefit from a future they only dreamed of.
To do this, he said focus is placed on ensuring that the development is linked to the economic transformation of the country.
“Development is multifaceted.
“If the healthcare system is not strong, you can’t support healthy children in the school system. If we don’t have healthy children in the school system, we can’t support students who will come out of the system to function in the healthcare system and others in the economy,” Dr Ali said.
Currently, numerous schools are being built across the country. This, Education Minister Priya Manickchand said has seen 2,500 students being accommodated in Region Nine alone.
“It means that before this 2500 students went without access to secondary school…and that is why five secondary schools are going up here in Region Nine. Those secondary schools will give us universal access to education here in Region Nine,” Manickchand said.
Equally important, she said efforts are being placed to ensure that there are trained teachers in every classroom.
To this end, Manickchand said between 2022 and 2024, 540 teachers graduated from Region 9.
“Our dream that is going to be realised before the end of next year is to ensure that every single teacher that stands in front of your children is either trained or being trained.
“Whatever your children deserve we will give it to them…whether it’s the highest valley or the lowest,” Manickchand said.
