Construction begins on $182 million Tabatinga secondary school

Construction has started on a modern secondary school in Tabatinga, Region Nine (Upper Takutu- Upper Essequibo) to accommodate the growing student population.

The $182 million facility will feature modern amenities and has a capacity for 800 students. It is scheduled for completion within 18 months.

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali participated in the sod-turning ceremony on Sunday, fulfilling a long-standing community request.

He said that through its targeted investments in education, the government continues to empower Guyanese across the country to pursue lucrative and promising careers.

Pointing to the female-dominated workforce at the current Lethem Regional Hospital, President Ali asserted that enhanced access to quality education is creating a new narrative in the hinterland regions.

“This is the power of a policy that goes beyond the delivery of a singular product. Because of the investment we are making in secondary education for your children, they now can enter the officer’s program at the Guyana Defence Force because they now have the opportunity to get the CXC subjects to go there,” he said.

President Ali highlighted additional initiatives such as the return of the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant, the provision of textbooks, and school feeding programmes, which benefit every village in the region.

He noted that the current generation now has opportunities that their parents and grandparents lacked, attributing these advancements to the efforts of the PPP/C government.

“The PPP is about creating and giving opportunities that you never had before to build stronger, better, more viable, sustainable and resilient communities,” he underlined.

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand explained that this school and the others underway will add a total of 2,500 more seats for secondary students in the region.

Secondary schools will also be built at Karasabai, Massara, Nappi, and Maruranau. Minister Manickchand said that once completed these schools will ensure that Region Nine has universal access to education.

“The 1100 children that are overflowing in Saint Ignatius will have comfortable seats in Tabatinga. In this region…we’re not only building schools, we’re building teachers’ quarters where they’re necessary so that your children could get the benefit of those trained teachers,” Minister Manickchand pointed out.

Since 2020, 18 new nursery schools and seven primary schools have been built in the region,

The minister further stated that 540 trained teachers from Region Nine have graduated or will soon graduate from the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE).

“Next week, 120 teachers will travel to Georgetown, at no cost to themselves, to engage in the graduation ceremony…120 newly trained teachers for your children. From region nine alone, 234 teachers just registered to get trained in September of this year. Our dream that is going to be realized before next year is that every single teacher that stands in front of your children’s classroom will be a teacher who is trained or in training,” she added.

Minister Manickchand highlighted that this measure is a key priority to ensure high-quality education for the children in the region.