THE more than 700 students and staff of the Mt Grace All-Age and Junior High School in Westmoreland are now enjoying the comfort of their new school block which was officially opened recently.

The new block, which will house a typing room, a mini-computer lab, a home-economics room and the principal and administrative offices, is more conducive to both teaching and learning.

Education, youth and culture minister, Burchell Whiteman, who was present for the opening, warned of the need to use Information Technology carefully to facilitate the development of children.

“Our children now have many pipelines through which information is coming to them. We have to be careful how we direct, guide, support and channel them,” Whiteman said. “We have to help them to analyse it and apply judgement so that it can be wholesome to their lives.”

In addition, he encouraged teachers to employ teaching methods that would appeal and hold the attention of their students in light of the many distractions available to them.

Meanwhile, the school’s acting principal, Yvonne Sawyers, has her eyes on further development of the school.

There is the need for a playing-field but while the land adjacent to the school is earmarked for this purpose, there is a lot of work that is needed for the rehabilitation of this land.

The acting principal is, however, depending on community support to prepare this land for the use of sporting purposes for the school.

Sawyers also noted the continued increase in the student population and said if it continues more lands would be required to facilitate the construction of additional buildings.

She said that the parcel of land to the east of the school property would go up for sale soon and suggested the education ministry consider acquiring it for future expansion.

“It is now incumbent on the Ministry of Education to acquire that parcel of land,” she said.

At the official opening ceremony, Jerry DePleissus, owner of Quick Silver Technologies, donated two computers to the school and committed himself to maintaining them.

DePleissus said that these are only two of the 10 computers set aside for schools in Westmoreland.