MORANT BAY, St Thomas – Government has fast-tracked its school-building programme to satisfy the demand for almost 235,000 school places in the shortest possible time.

Minister of Education Maxine Henry-Wilson told community leaders at a Social Development Commission (SDC) meeting at their local office in Morant Bay, last Wednesday, that as part of the programme, 17 schools were built over a three-year period in the western end of the island to meet the growing demand for space in that region. This, she said, was brought on primarily because of the boom in the north coast tourism belt, which spans Ocho Rios, St Ann to Negril, Westmoreland.

While acknowledging that there was a space problem in the island’s education system, Henry-Wilson pointed out that government’s ability to respond effectively was restricted by available financing. The education sector, she noted, received the largest allocation in the national budget, but 95 per cent of that amount go towards salaries. While noting that proper compensation for teachers and administrative staff was important, the minister noted that this left the sector with some $3 billion to carrying out its other functions.

“To construct a school costs about $200 million and an additional $150 million is then required to furnish and outfit that school,” the minister said.

“Now we are trying to fill that need elsewhere quickly by adding classrooms, but it takes time to do the planning, to do the quantities and the contracts,” she said.

“These stages have to be adhered to, to prevent against cries of corruption by the same people crying out for more classrooms to be built rapidly,” she added.

The minister said, too, that with the continued construction of Highway 2000 demand for school spaces has also risen in other areas. “We also had to fast-track the building of four sets of classrooms along the St Catherine corridor because large bodies of persons are moving to Portmore and surrounding areas so we had to build to try and meet that need quickly,” said Henry-Wilson.

“We at the ministry are aware of the shortages and this year we received $5 billion from the National Housing Trust, simply to meet those challenges. We have on the books strategic plans to alleviate those problems and we hope that before we get to the next school year to make a dent on that demand,” said the minister.

She also told the gathering that several schools in the eastern end of the island were slated for construction, including those in Lyssons and Port Morant.

The minister said, however, that schools could not be built overnight or within a week and called on all involved to work together to ensure that all children, regardless of the circumstances, received a fair chance at the best education possible.