Six contracts were signed on Friday for rebuilding the St. George’s High School, which was gutted by fire in July 2022.
The school is expected to be completed in five to seven months and will feature several fire prevention mechanisms.
Minister of Education Priya Manickchand witnessed the signing in the Ministry of Education’s Boardroom. Minister Manickchand said that the Ministry is focused on providing high-quality education to children across the country.
The Education Minister said that the Georgetown Education District had serious space constraints before the fires that destroyed the St. George’s High School Fire, the North Ruimveldt Secondary School and Christ Church Secondary.
She said that with the destruction of those schools, the situation became even worse.
She said that under the five years of the APNU+AFC Administration, no secondary school was started and completed. As such, she said that a lot of the space issues are now being addressed.
She reminded those present that contracts were signed to reconstruct the Christ Church Secondary School and that soon contracts will be signed to rebuild the St. Mary’s High School.
This, along with the reconstruction of the North Ruimveldt Secondary School, the St. Rose’s High School, extensions at Queen’s College, the Bishops’ High School, the East Ruimveldt Secondary School and the St. Winefride’s Secondary School, the space issues in the Georgetown District will be addressed.
Further, Minister Manickchand noted that the completion of the Good Hope Secondary School would address space issues along the East Coast. In contrast, completing the Yarrowkabra Secondary School would address the issue for the Upper East Bank Demerara area.
“It’s a massive programme to get secondary schools up and running, and as it is exciting, it is equally worrying because we are depending on so much, on people who are signing contracts with us, honouring their duties and responsibilities under those contracts. So, the Government is clear. Our intention is clear. We want children in schools. We want to build schools,” Minister Manickchand stated.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Alfred King, stated that the total project cost is $253.8 million.
Similar to the approach used to rebuild the Christ Church Secondary School, the project has been divided into lots to be executed simultaneously by different contractors.
He said the school would be a two-story building oriented with a panoramic view of the lower flat. The upper flat will feature 12 classrooms. The lower flat will house six laboratories, including the Information Technology, Home Economics and Industrial Technology laboratories.
The fire prevention components of the school include fire escape stairs, escape doors, fire alarms, fire extinguishers, limited timber usage, metal ceilings and fire-retardant panels. The project consultant is Origin Investment.
