Woodley Park Secondary gets $14M science lab

─ Students plan to make good use of facility

─ Minister of Education also visits other Primary Schools

DPI, Guyana, Saturday, February 9, 2019

Woodley Park Secondary School students can for the first time make use of a science facility in their own school after the Ministry of Education built and fully equipped a lab for $14Million.

The facility features stools, microscopes, gas, Petri dishes, burners and an array of other science supplies and items to be used as in the Integrated Science lab.

The commissioning of this lab by Minister of Education, Dr. Nicolette Henry will bring much relief to the students of the Woodley Park school who were previously forced to do mostly theoretical work, or use the laboratory facilities at Rosignol and Fort Wellington Secondary Schools, which proved stressful.

Minister of Education, Hon. Dr. Nicolette Henry.

In the photo, students of the Woodley Park Secondary School along with Minister of Education, Dr. Nicolette Henry [center].

A high quality microscope in the new lab.

The lab facility at Woodley Park Secondary.

Woodley Park Secondary.

“We are opening this new facility so that the students of this Secondary School can benefit from a lab where they’ll be able to get their school work done. We’re focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and so we need to have appropriate facilities where you can be taught,” Minister Henry told the students.

She underscored that her desire was for the school to produce scientists, physicians, pharmacists, chemists and other personnel for work in the sciences.

The Minister added that with the introduction of the oil and gas sector to Guyana’s economy, schools need to adequately equip students in wider areas of study. With full awareness of the direction the world is going in relation to technology, science and modernisation.

Minister Henry noted that it is important that Guyanese students not be left behind.

“It is because we believe in your development that we are putting these facilities in place. I trust that you make very good use of it and I am looking forward to hearing of the good work you are doing here, utilising the facilities that we are putting in place,” she explained.

The Education Minister further encouraged the teachers of Woodley Park Secondary to use the enhanced facility to ensure that the content being delivered is of a high standard.

Nafeeza Khan, Head of Department (ag) for Science at the school explained that “Practical work means a lot to [the students] and most of the time we do our labs in the classroom, so we’re thankful for this lab now because they would have the experience coming in here. Right now, we have 27 children writing CSEC this year. It will be very much beneficial, we’re hoping that now that we have access to this lab, we can see some more improvement.”

The science teachers of the school are elated with the receipt of the lab because it will catapult students’ success through their exposure to more practical and hands-on training and experiments.

Nateshia Isaacs.

Images: Marceano Narine.