CONSTRUCTION work on the new Bartica student dormitory is moving apace and is set to expand access to secondary education in the region.

While in Region Seven on Monday, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand conducted a visit to the site with members of the media.

Providing details on the construction, Minister Manickchand disclosed that it is a brand-new dormitory that is being constructed, and it is part of a larger $423 million project, which includes the rehabilitation of the existing dormitory.

The project is being executed by Dijiris Engineering and Construction and supervised by Deen and Partners.

The minister noted that the purpose of this, along with the rehabilitation of other dormitory facilities in the region, is to provide the required international standard for dormitories here, which includes ensuring there is proper ventilation, lights and other things children need in such a facility.

“If you look at this behind there, it’s a majestic piece but we couldn’t only rehabilitate what we had, we simply did not have the space or we would not be able to get the space or the standard for dining and study and all that so we had to put down a new building and we’re very happy to do that,” she remarked.

In the push for universal secondary education in Region Seven, Minister Manickchand indicated that efforts to construct the necessary facilities are ongoing.

In addition to the work being done at Bartica Secondary, she said a secondary school with a small dorm and a teachers’ quarters is being constructed at Jawalla along with dorms at Phillipai, Issano and Karrau.

She emphasised that government has promised that it would ensure that every child can get access to secondary education in their region.

“We have seen better retention already in the primary school because now children know there will be a secondary school to go to. We are seeing better attendance, [and] we attribute that to not only better schools but things like breakfast and the cash grant, trained teachers in the classroom, teachers in front of the classroom and so we expect to see the system do much better,” she stated.

Meanwhile, the education minister noted that most of what is being seen across the education sector are the flowers of seeds recently planted, which according to her are blooming faster than usual in some cases in relation to education cycles.