Building, rehabilitation of schools a key priority in education budget

With the objective of providing equitable access to quality education to Guyana’s children, a significant amount of the $74.4 billion budgetary allocation to the education sector will be used for the construction of educational facilities countrywide.

This is according to Minister of Education, Dr. Priya Manickchand who told DPI recently massive construction of the schools is needed to meet the growing population.

“Whenever we’re building a new school, whether it be a nursery, primary or secondary, what we look for is whether the schools that currently exist are overcrowded, or if they could hold more students but also, what is the population growth like and what are the trends like in that particular community,” she said.

At Karasabai in Region Nine (Upper Takutu- Upper Essequibo), for example, the minister said, said there are students attending a primary school instead of secondary school because the four secondary schools in the region are filled to capacity.

“All the other schools in Region Nine, they are four secondary schools, they are dorm schools, they are all filled to capacity. So, we are building a secondary school at Karasabai this year,” she said.

Some $6.6 billion will be used to construct, rehabilitate and maintain several educational facilities across the country.

Included is the construction of nursery schools at Hydronie, Haslington and Vryheid Lust; and primary schools at Bamia/Amelia’s Ward, Kaikan, Karabairu, Zeelugt and Oronoque.

During the 2022 budget presentation, last week, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for finance, Dr. Ashni Singh explained that construction works will also commence on the Prospect Secondary, as well as the reconstruction of the North Ruimveldt and North West Secondary schools, both destroyed by fire last year.

In 2021, $5.4 billion was expended to undertake several infrastructural developmental works at the facilities. Currently, works are ongoing on nursery schools at Queenstown, Martyrsville, Agatash; primary schools at Swan, Vryheid Lust, St. Martins, Waramadong; and secondary schools at Abram Zuil and Yarrowkabra.