By Tamica Garnett
Newly established secondary schools are scheduled for construction in Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara, Georgetown; Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, and Orealla in East Berbice-Corentyne.

They will be among several such secondary schools set to be constructed across the country over the next few years, as part of the Ministry of Education (MoE) plan to achieve universal secondary education in Guyana.

Other areas earmarked for newly established secondary schools include Hosororo in Region One; Vreed-en-Hoop in West Demerara, and Karasabai in Region Nine.

The school in Hosororo will complement the North West Secondary in Mabaruma, which is scheduled to be rebuilt after it was destroyed by fire in September 2021.

This was announced by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, while making remarks at an event on Monday.

In addition to the increased capacity at schools, increased dorm spaces on scheduled to be established at the Abram Zuil secondary in Region Two, at schools in Region Five, and the Paramakatoi and Kato Secondary Schools in Region Eight (Potaro Siparuni), while the secondary schools in Region 10 are also scheduled to be rehabilitated.

The expansions and construction are part of the MoE’s plan to widen intake capacity at secondary schools all across the country, given the massive increase in retention of secondary school students currently being experienced.

As a result of effective policies being implemented by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, more primary school pupils are being retained by the secondary education system. However, this is resulting in overcrowding at several secondary schools, as such, the Ministry has seen the need for a massive rollout to increase capacity.

“Universal secondary education means all over the country children can access a secondary education; that’s not cheap and that’s not easy. [This is] very strategic, well thought out, this is not harem scarem,” Minister Manickchand commented.

The Minister was speaking as the MoE signed contracts and turned the sod to construct a $175 million expansion at the East Ruimveldt Secondary and an $85 million expansion at the St Winefride’s Secondary schools, in Georgetown, on Monday.

The expansions at the two schools will complement the $198.9 million expansions already ongoing at Queen’s College, Bishops’ High School, and expansions at St. Stanislaus College and the St. Joseph’s High, that are slated for next year.

It also adds to the $566.9M re-construction of the North Ruimveldt Multilateral Secondary that is currently ongoing.

North Ruimveldt Multilateral is yet another school destroyed by fire within the last two years. The school went up in flames in June 2021.

The St. George’s Secondary School, which was also destroyed by fire in July, is also expected to be rebuilt at the exact location after the Ministry found it hard to locate alternative land in the city close to the locale.

“We’re looking at the same location because while we would have preferred to find a really nice place that has large areas for playing and do other things. Finding land in Georgetown is really, really hard, it’s almost impossible. Initially, my feeling was that we should have [larger] land space, [but] we can’t find that in a way that allows children to access education without spending too much [on transportation],” Manickchand explained.

According to Minister Manickchand, the Ministry has already gotten no objection from the Anglican Church to rebuild St George’s Secondary at its previous location. The church owns the land where the school was erected.

“We are in talks with the church to buy but they’re very clear that if we are building back to school, they’re okay, permission is there for that. But we would also prefer to own it if we can,” Manickchand said.

The Minister noted that plans are also afoot for reconstructing of the St Mary’s Secondary School.

Additionally, by the next school year, the education system in Region Four will be able to benefit from the completion of ongoing construction of the St Rose’s Secondary School in Georgetown, the newly established Yarrowkabra Secondary on the Linden Soesdyke Highway, and the Good Hope Secondary on the East Coast of Demerara.

The Yarrowkabra, Good Hope, and Prospect Secondary Schools are all schools being built under the Guyana Secondary Education Improvement Project (GSEIP), which is being funded with financing from the World Bank.

At Yarrowkabra, Minister Manickchand noted that construction is ahead of its timeline and hence on schedule for its March 2022 completion. Meanwhile, at Good Hope Secondary, while a significant amount of the construction has been completed, due to the termination of the contract with the previous contractor, the World Bank will now be tendering for a management company to subcontract out for the completion of the remaining works.