CABINET on Tuesday granted its no-objection to a project valued more than $204M for the construction of the Zeeburg Secondary School on the West Coast Demerara. 

The bid was opened last June 17, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon told reporters Wednesday at his usual post-Cabinet media briefing at the Office of the President in Georgetown.
The Ministry of Education had said it is well on its way to achieving Universal Secondary Education in Region 3 (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara).Just last month, it announced that works will begin on the expansion of the West Demerara Secondary School and the construction of a new school in Parfaite Harmonie to house 1,000 students.
Works on the West Demerara Secondary School, for instance, will be completed within five months after which there will be a six-month grace period, where persons will monitor how the building is functioning.
The $22.6M extension project was contracted to Vision and General Contracting Services, and will accommodate six additional classrooms. The two-storey building will have corridors on both floors and will cater for disabled students as well.

WORK AT OTHER SCHOOLS
Expansion work is expected to take place at several educational institutions and work has started on the Friendship Secondary School, East Bank Demerara, which is expected to be completed on February 25, 2015.
A new secondary school is currently being constructed at Kato, Region 8 (Potaro/Siparuni), while Lusignan in Region 4 and other areas will also benefit from similar infrastructure.
Already, Regions 2, 4, 5 and 10 have achieved this status, while Regions 1, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are set to achieve this goal by the end of 2015.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand on a visit to the school last month related that having provided the necessary infrastructure, the Government of Guyana is now focusing on how to improve participation and the quality of education delivered, therefore, the ministry sees it as the right time for the implementation of several programmes and policies targeting these areas.
“Education is extremely important to the PPP Government and we know that if Guyana is to advance and progress, it’s to invest in you, and we believe every investment in our children is an investment in our dear land of Guyana, and that is why we have no problem plugging (money) into the sector and helping parents,” Manickchand emphasised.
“The PPP/C promises that we will continue to look after you and your children. We will continue to invest in you and we look forward sincerely to your support where necessary,” she said.

(By Telesha Ramnarine)