Troy Community Welcomes New High School

The Troy community in Southern Trelawny has welcomed the new Troy High school, which opened its doors to 260 students on September 10.
The 900-student capacity school was constructed by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) under the North Western Schools Programme, through which a total of 17 new schools have been constructed in the parishes of Trelawny, St. James, Westmoreland and Hanover since 2002.
“We really needed this school here at Troy because our closest high school would be the one at Albert Town and that school operates on a shift system and it was bursting at the seams,” said Acting Regional Director at the Ministry of Education Region 3, Maxine Headlam. “We really needed to have more spaces for our students and so for this school to be here in Troy, it is really a welcomed intervention by the Troy community as well as the Region 3 office,” she told JIS News, while commending the UDC for the quality of work done.
According to Miss Headlam, the schools constructed in Region 3 under the North Western Schools Programme, have not only helped to address the shortage of space at the primary and secondary levels, but have negated the need for students to travel long distances for schooling.
“In terms of the economic challenges that some parents would have in sending their children to school at various distances, it has alleviated that pressure on our parents,” she said, noting that the standard of the schools augur well for the advancement of education in the region.
School principal, Linval Wright, told JIS News that the parents in the community are delighted about the school and some are asking to have their children transferred to the institution.
“I have worked as a principal before and it is a great difference here at Troy in terms of the facilities. I know in terms of budgeting, I won’t have to spend a lot of money on maintenance so we can focus on actually learning because the labs are here all equipped or partially equipped,” he boasted, while urging students and parents to take the very best care of the facilities.
First form student, Orane Graham, told JIS News that he was very happy with his new school. “I think that it is the very best thing they have ever done for us here in Troy because we don’t have to pay a lot of money to come to school. We can just walk right down and get our education and then go back home,” he said.
Valdeen Buckle, another first form student, added that she too loved her new school and extended sincere thanks to the UDC for carrying out such good work in Troy.
Senior Project Manager at the UDC, Trevor Heaven told JIS News that Troy is somewhat different from the other high schools that were constructed under the North Western Schools Programme.
“This school has a student capacity of 900 while the other high schools have a student capacity of 1,350. Troy is a farming community so the curriculum here is slightly different, so the school has more labs than the other schools,” he informed.
Mr. Wright, in the meantime, suggested that the institution could be used as a skills training facility for the wider community.
“One of the things I find with these communities is that they are so far away from tertiary institutions and because of this, I think that one of the things that needs to be mooted at the board level and with the (Education) Ministry is partnering with HEART to get this school to be one where people can come for training,” he said.
He noted that such a partnership would assist in getting unskilled young men off the streets.