The Ministry of Education (MoE) yesterday signed a contract valued $346.2 million for the reconstruction of the North West Secondary School, Mabaruma, Region One.
Present during the signing were Deputy Chief Education Officer with responsibility for Amerindian and Hinterland Education Development (AHED), Marti DeSouza; Director of the School Boards Secretariat, Deonarine Hardat; and Permanent Secretary, Alfred King.
According to a MoE press release, the contract was awarded to Aruca Investments. The project is scheduled to be completed in fourteen months at a cost of $346.2 million and the project consultant is Innovative Engineering Services. The reconstructed North West Secondary School will be a two-storey building with 23 classrooms, three science labs, a sanitary block and an accessible lift.
During her brief remarks at the signing ceremony in the MoE boardroom, Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand said that the quality of work executed on the project will greatly impact the lives of students. She noted that after the school was destroyed by fire, the students and teachers had been tremendously inconvenienced. She impressed upon the contractor and consultant the need for quality work and on-time completion. The minister posited that the way they approach this project in terms of quality and time taken to complete it can change many lives.
Manickchand also touched on government’s plans for the sector and said that education delivery in Region One will see further development with new schools scheduled to be built at Waramuri, Hosororo and Kwebanna, over the next few years.
King said that the Ministry of Education is working on achieving Universal Secondary Education and noted that this project is important to attaining that goal.
On September 25, 2021, the North West Secondary School was destroyed by fire. The Ministry of Education has provided support and made alternative arrangements to facilitate the students of the school until it is rebuilt.
