-after $42M extension project
The Parika-Salem Secondary School is being extended to accommodate 300 more students, in a $42 million project that is to be completed next April.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand, addressing parents of students as well as teachers at the school yesterday, said the project will also see computer rooms and science labs being housed in the new building that is being constructed.
Kares Construction, which won the bid for the project, has assured the ministry that the building will be completed by April 8, 2013 and a blueprint of the building along with an estimate of the materials to be used will be on the notice board at the school so that parents and teachers can assess the work being done.
Manickchand added that a number of consultants will be also making sure that operation runs smoothly.
A number of parents were given the opportunity to voice their concerns about the present situation at the school. The compound also houses the Parika-Salem Primary School, which a parent said is overcrowded and lacks a recreational area for the children to play.
Manickchand, however, said that the population of the primary division is 469 students, just nine more than the 460-student population it was intended to accommodate. She noted that the difference was not a large number.
Another parent raised the issue of lessons being held outside the school, while saying that some days she does not know where her daughter is and the location of the lessons.
In response, Manickchand explained that lessons which are taught in school were never stopped, while adding that the ministry conditioned that lessons which are held for free are allowed in the schools, but the ones which have a cost attached to them would not.
During the day, the heat in the school discomforts both the students and teachers, said another parent, who also said that the auditorium of the primary school houses a total of six classes which are congested.
The school’s headmistress explained to the minister that the school had made a number of requests for fans to be placed to make the learning experience of the students more comfortable. Manickchand said that there was indeed a report which was lodge for fans, however, they would be catered for in the budget for 2013.
Another parent raised the issue of a burial ground which is next to the school. When tombs burst open, they carry a stench which is unhealthy for the students, the parent noted. The minister assured the parent that she would have the issue looked after as soon as possible.
Also mentioned as a concern was the noise made by the contractors working in the yard, which sometimes affects classes. The Kares representative admitted that it is an issue but also pointed out that his workers have to start work at 3.30 pm when the school is cleared and sometimes they get home in the wee hours of the morning, thereby putting themselves at risk.
