The new Kato Secondary School in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) will be open for the new school year in September 2018.

According to the Ministry of Education, Minister Nicolette Henry made the pronouncement on Thursday during a visit  Kato. She was accompanied by Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr George along with senior officers within the Ministry of Education, representatives of  the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and the Audit Office of Guyana.

Engineer firm, Kares Engineering, the firm which was contracted to build the school, Vikab Guyana Limited, the consultancy firm that overlooked the completion of the remedial works to the building as well as officials of the Regional Education Office and the Regional Democratic Council of Region Eight accompanied the Education Minister.

Minister Henry explained that it is government’s belief that every Guyanese deserves a good life in the context of what is the best that can be provided based on the available resources.

She said that all stakeholders must ensure that the Kato Secondary School is second to none so that the students of the community and those nearby can be educated under similar conditions that prevail in Georgetown and along the coast.

“We have to reduce disparities, everyone must have access to the same quality of education. That is paramount,”she said.

Minister Henry further stated that the trip allowed her the opportunity to recognise some of the areas that may not have been given attention, which from a policy directive, ought to have been considered. However, she said that such matters will be addressed following some introspection within the Ministry of Education.

“We have to ensure that information technology is paramount in terms of smart classrooms, ebooks and IT Labs and the configuration of the science labs and the home economics building,” Minister Henry said.

The high-level team toured the entire school complex to inspect the state of readiness and to highlight what additional works need to be done in order to ensure that the school is ready for a September 2018 opening.

Particular emphasis was placed on the school’s dormitory which in the past was flagged for having a number of structural defects. However, with the remedial works being completed, those pressing issues have been solved.

According to Minister Norton, it is important that the school is completed now. He assured the Toshao of Kato,  Clifton Perreira that the APNU+AFC administration is doing everything that is possible to achieve the September 2018 opening.

Minister Henry told Toshao Perreira to relay to his community on behalf of the Government of Guyana, that “we will be opening this school in September because we know the importance of education.”

Toshao Perreira thanked the team for visiting the school and expressed gratitude for the commitment given to have the school opened for the new school year.

Works to the Kato Secondary School was completed three years ago . However , the facility was never commissioned since investigations revealed a number of structural defects which needed to be remedied before students and teachers could occupy the building.

The school was initially billed at $780M, however , given the additional works which were undertaken government said the final tally could be about $1B.