Newly opened $152M Zeelugt Primary School to benefit 600 students

Approximately 600 students are now comfortably accommodated at the new and improved $152 million Zeelugt Primary School in Region Three.

The school was officially commissioned on Friday, representing the fulfilment of a commitment made by the Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand during a visit in 2021.

Following the contract signing in May 2022, the old wooden structure was demolished and a modern concrete building now stands in its place, featuring a kitchen, library, computer room, an auditorium and 15 classrooms.

Previously, students were accommodated at two religious buildings in the community.

During his remarks, President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali stressed the government’s determination to ensure  all regions have access to well-equipped facilities capable of offering world-class education.

“As I speak to you now, we have made a commitment and made the resources available to the Ministry of Education to have every school in our country that needs to be repainted, repainted. Every washroom facility that needs to be fixed, fixed. Every roof that needs to be fixed, fixed; every drainage system, guttering system that needs to be fixed, fixed,” the president said.

Added to this, every school will have a multi-purpose tarmac to support extracurricular activities.

“Not only are we building new schools, we are setting new and improved minimum standards for your children,” President Ali noted.

Furthermore, he mentioned that substantial resources are being allocated to train all teachers, reminding that Guyana stands out as one of the few countries that offers free teacher training and even provides stipends to encourage educational pursuits.

“And when we came into government, that stipend was below $10,000. Today, that stipend is almost $100,000. More than 900 per cent increase in the stipend,” he underlined.

The president further pointed out, “For this region alone, we’ve increased the number of trained teachers in a nursery school system from 237 in 2020, to 705 today, a more than 220 per cent increase.”

According to the head of state, this speaks to a deliberate strategy set to ensure infrastructure is matched with skill development.

In the primary school system, the number of trained teachers has increased from 510 in 2020 to 1,648 in 2024.

“In 2020, we had 425 trained secondary teachers in this region. Today, we have 1319 trained secondary teachers in this region, a more than 200 per cent increase. When we spoke about a world class education system, it was not only world class buildings, it was world class teachers [and] world class facilities,” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand said  to date, 42 nursery schools and 18 primary schools have been constructed across the country. Some 26 secondary schools are currently underway.

“We have built in Region Three, one new nursery school and five new primary schools, and we are not finished yet. We are currently building…three new secondary schools: one at Tuschen, one at Vreed-en-Hoop, and one at Nismes,” Minister Manickchand highlighted.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, also delivered remarks. Regional Chairman, Inshan Ayube, officials within the Ministry of Education, and other regional officials were also in attendance.