ST. GEORGE’S GRENADA, MARCH 30, 2016: The Education Sector will receive massive upgrades and technical assistance, thanks to a 15 million dollar U.S loan and $500, 000 U.S dollars in grant funding from the Caribbean Development Bank.
Hon. Anthony Boatswain, Minister for Education, said, “First it will include the expansion and rehabilitation of six of our secondary schools and to include, where applicable, the provision of furniture and fixtures for the schools.” This announcement came during a post-cabinet briefing, on March 15, 2016.
Major works to be conducted include a major retaining wall at the St. Joseph’s Convent St. George and at the Presentation Brothers College (which will also get a new two-storey science block); a one-storey addition to the St. Joseph’s Convent St. Andrew, designed to accommodate a future second floor; a two-storey science block, at the Grenada Seventh Day Adventist Comprehensive School in Mt. Rose; a two-storey block at the J.W. Fletcher Catholic Secondary School, in St. George, and major upgrades to Bishop’s College, in Carriacou, including a two-storey science block.
Other critical projects include the rebuilding and relocation of the St. David’s Catholic Secondary and the Grenada Christian Academy Schools and the rebuilding of the St. Andrew’s Anglican Primary School, at its present location. The St. David’s Catholic Secondary School’s new facilities will include 17 classrooms and 10 specialist spaces and be situated on two acres of crown-owned land, at La Sagesse, St. David. The school will accommodate 510 students. The Grenada Christian Academy’s new facilities will have 11 classrooms and 10 specialist spaces and will be situated on one and a half acres of crown-owned land at Pearls, St. Andrew. It will accommodate 330 students. The St. Andrew’s Anglican Primary School will have 16 classrooms and will accommodate 480 students.
The main purpose of two phased intervention of the project is to continue the restoration and upgrading of the physical infrastructure damaged by Hurricanes Ivan and Emily in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and to provide institutional strengthening and capacity building from the CDB-funded review of the Strategic Plan for Educational Enhancement and Development (SPEED).
The project will also provide technical assistance to improve the efficiency of the educational sector through enhancement of the quality, relevance and instructional effectiveness; by providing professional development and training for educators and administrators; strengthening system leadership and enhancing sector planning and management capacity. It will include the introduction of a national education management information system (EMIS), which will track, among other things, the performance of students, from pre-school up to secondary school. A study will be conducted to determine how educational institutions can best share resources, including facilities, where separate technical and vocational education (TVET) facilities cannot be established at every school. The project will also involve a CDB study to determine how Grenada can best enhance its school/community relations, to ensure better outcomes for students.
Hon. Anthony Boatswain, Minister for Education said, “This is a project that will transform, significantly, the education sector in Grenada.”
A project steering committee, who will monitor the execution of the project, is already in place and consists of stakeholders from The Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development; Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Works; the National Training Agency; Ministry of Social Development and Housing; the department of Gender Affairs; the Grenada Teachers Union and representatives from each of the schools, which will undergo rehabilitation, or receive new school facilities.
To date, the Education Minister noted that more than 46 million has been spent on school rehabilitation. Important new structures and rehabilitation has recently been completed on several educational institutions across the country, including the Mac Donald College; T.A. Marryshow Community College, the Grenada Boys Secondary School and the Woburn Methodist School, which was handed over on March 15, 2016.
