…living quarters for teachers at St Cuthbert’s Mission

BY mid-month the tenders for some 13 capital projects, inclusive of the construction of roads, culverts and the living quarters for the education department, will be awarded by the Region Four administration, according to Regional Executive Officer (REO) Ms Pauline Lucas.

For the Fiscal Year 2019, the budget for Region Four is $7.B, of which $601.6M has been allocated for capital works, and according to Lucas, who has been functioning in the capacity for three and a half years, her aim is to make Region Four a model region in every aspect in health education and public infrastructure.

Among the projects to be undertaken is the construction of duplex living quarters for teachers at St Cuthbert’s Mission- an indigenous village on the Mahaica River. Under education, three schools – roll-over projects from 2018 – will be constructed, while three new nursery schools are being built at Strathspey and Vryheid’s Lust North, both villages on the East Coast of Demerara and at Craig, East Bank Demerara, under the Child-Friendly School Programme.

Child-friendly schools aim to develop a learning environment in which children are motivated, able to learn, and staff members are friendly and welcoming to children and attend to their health and safety needs.

At both Strathspey and Vryheid’s Lust, the nursery departments were previously under the same roof with the primary. One of the requirements, however, for a nursery school to be categorised as child-friendly it should be separate from the primary.

At the Strathspey facility where the works are about 90 per cent complete, some 120 students can be accommodated, while at Craig the new building is about 95 per cent finished and has an April month end deadline, Lucas said.

At Vryheid’s Lust North; the new accommodation is completed and awaiting a date for commissioning. Lucas said that upon completion, the schools will be conducive to learning, adding that the region has been doing a lot for education and the strengthening of the curriculum. “We have been conducting lots of training on a regular basis for teaching, as it is recognised that training is never too much and makes them better equipped to impart the education programme.

Touching on the upgrading of roads, the REO said there is a continuous upgrading of roads including in the Ann’s Grove community where no proper roads existed, while the construction or upgrading of roads, bridges and other infrastructure, will bring a new face to the Demerara/Mahaica region.