Infrastructure at Primary Schools to be Upgraded

The infrastructure  of  several early childhood, primary  and special needs schools  across the island are to be upgraded over the next five years at a cost of  $15 million,  donated by Guardian General Insurance Jamaica Limited.

The project, which is entitled: ‘$15million over 5 years’,  was officially launched at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, on  February 11.

In his address,  Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, commended the insurance company on the launch of the project, that is “focused on improving the infrastructure in early childhood, primary  and special needs schools.”

He  said the Ministry endorses the initiative by Guardian General Insurance, and pledges its support in implementing  the project.

“This initiative resonates with the Ministry’s policy prioritisation of Early Childhood and Special Education. The Ministry of Education will be pleased to  collaborate with Guardian General as requested, in informing schools across the island about the project criteria as well as participating in the evaluation process,” Rev. Thwaites said.

The Minister said he is pleased that Guardian Insurance  is concentrating on the early childhood education sector.

“I am so glad that you are focusing on infrastructure. We need to make the environment friendly and then they will learn better. We are particularly pleased that Guardian General has included special needs educational institutions as potential beneficiaries of the ‘$15 million over five years’ project,” Rev. Thwaites added.

For her part, President of Guardian General Insurance Jamaica Limited, Karen Bhoorasingh, said the project  targets the safety and protection of the nation’s children whilst in school.

She noted that this will be achieved through different areas of improvement to the school premises. Some of the areas to be addressed to improve safety challenges include: renovation of bathroom facilities; fencing of school grounds; fabrication of railings and windows and door grills; fabrication of school gates; provision of garbage disposal skips; provision of kitchen equipment; electrical installation to improve lighting in classrooms and stairways; general painting of walls; and installing safety messages within schools.

“Our project scope will not be limited to those named. As  long as there is a safety challenge surrounding the circumstances, we will review,” Ms. Bhoorasingh said.

Two schools have already been chosen to benefit from this initiative. They are Mountain View Primary School and Allman Town Primary School in Kingston.