$1B secondary school completed at Parfaite Harmonie

– Min Manickchand satisfied with work

– to be handed over next week

The newly-constructed $1 billion Westminster Secondary School at Parfaite Harmonie West Bank Demerara, is the first state-of the art facility to be completed under the Guyana Secondary Education Improvement Project (SEIP). The programme is a Government initiative aimed at achieving universal secondary education.

The school is expected to be handed over to the Ministry of Education next week.  It is fully equipped with all the modern amenities needed to improve the quality and delivery of education. Facilities include 32 classrooms, a language laboratory, a dance studio, library, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Information Technology laboratories, a theatre room, along with a Mathematics, Home Economics and Agriculture Science laboratories. It is also easily accessible by persons with disabilities.

Minister Hon. Priya Manickchand, following a tour of the campus on Thursday, said she was pleased with the quality of work.

“It is probably going to be one of our most resourced schools, given the labs and so on that we’ve seen, and we want to make sure children of Region Three can benefit from it.”

Minister Manickchand said the school will accommodate 1,000 students and will be categorised as a ‘B’ List school in terms of quality. This will, however, change over the next two years.

“It’s going to be fully staffed with competent, trained graduate teachers and auxiliary staff and it’s going to be a school that we will use as a model to show once there are resources and trained teachers, children from anywhere can do well,” she said.

Minister of Education, Hon. Priya Manickchand is given a guided tour of the Westminster Secondary School

Additionally, the Ministry plans to offer the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination at the secondary school.

With the new school in place, and a planned dormitory at Leonora, West Coast Demerara, Minister Manickchand said all primary tops in the Region can close their doors.

“It’s not likely to give students the opportunities they need to survive best in this world.

So that’s why we conceived of these schools in the first place. I am extremely excited to be able to do that in Region Three,” she said.

One of the laboratories

Minister Manickchand said it is unfortunate that the schools were not completed over the last five years. However, the PPP/C Government will ensure they are completed in a timely manner.

Construction of the Westminster Secondary School started in October 2018. It is one of three schools being funded by the World Bank through the SEIP. Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Hutson, Regional Education Officer, Mr. Devindra Persaud, Coordinator of the Guyana SEIP, Mr. Jimmy Bhojedat and Special Projects Officer, Mr. Ron Eastman were also on the tour of the facility.

A dance studio at the Westminster Secondary School