Remarks by the Minister of Education , Hon. R. Wayne Scott, JP, MP
This morning I would like to provide an update on the readiness of our school buildings as the 2016/17 school year will officially start for all students on Thursday, September 8th 2016.
First of all let me say that during the summer months, our technical officers in both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Works strategically work together to undertake a series of maintenance and capital projects that will improve our school facilities in preparation for the start of school each September. We recognize the importance of having a safe, clean and healthy learning environment for our students, our principals, teaching staff, and administrative staff. Just last week I visited some of our schools along with the Acting Commissioner of Education and our Facilities Manager. We were pleased to see that the maintenance and repair work is progressing well.
This summer, the Facilities Section in the Department of Education has completed a total of 75 school improvement deliverables with 25 of those being capital development projects for the improvement of our school buildings.
Following a successful bidding process, work contracts were awarded to a number of local contractors to execute on the repair, maintenance and improvement projects slated for the summer.
The Elliot Primary School was one of the major school improvement projects that is now in the final phase of completion. The upper restrooms were renovated for our children, the interior and the exterior of the school was painted, the entire school was tent fumigated for termites and various flooring projects were carried out in the assembly hall and library. Finally, extensive plumbing works were carried out in the courtyard to address age-old drainage issues.
You may recall that I promised to have the maintenance schedule posted on the Ministry website back in May so that the general public is aware of the repair and maintenance projects that will be undertaken to improve our school buildings. The works that have been carried thus far include:
- The renovation of all student and staff restrooms at Northlands Primary school.
- The renovation of the upper restrooms at Victor Scott Primary school
- The purchase of three playgrounds for Gilbert Institute, Harrington Sound and West Pembroke schools
- Netball court resurfacing projects at West End Primary, Prospect Primary, and East End Primary schools ;
- Tent Fumigation at West Pembroke school;
- Hallway and classroom floor resurfacing projects at Southampton and Prospect Preschools, and, at Port Royal, Purvis and Victor Scott Primary schools;
- And safety perimeter fencing at St. Georges Preschool and East End Primary.
These are just some of the many improvement and maintenance projects undertaken this summer by our Facilities Section in the Department of Education. Additional maintenance tasks that were scheduled included: pest control assessments, fire alarm inspection testing, and water fountain maintenance, as well as the cleaning and power washing of walkways at various school sites.
As we approach the beginning of September, our school custodians will be working diligently to complete the preparation of the inside of the school buildings for the start of the new school year.
At this point, I would like to thank the team in the Ministry of Public Works for engaging in a collaborative partnership with the facilities team in the Department of Education. Both teams have remained diligent in the execution of the maintenance projects. Additionally, I acknowledge the independent contractors for the work carried out with the restroom renovations, the outside and interior resurfacing; fumigation and fencing – job well done!.
Thank you, and now the Minister of Public Works will share details of the project work that was undertaken by his team in this collaborative effort.