When the next school term begins in January, the students of the Rock River All-Age School in St Mary, which spawned three members of parliament for the South East constituency of the parish, will no longer have to traverse a rutted slope to access pit latrines.

With assistance from the current member of parliament and alumnus Harry Douglas, the school will be the beneficiary of a $4-million sanitary block.

The new facility will have a total of 12 toilets with access for people with disabilities, shower stalls and change rooms to serve 60-odd students.

Douglas told the Observer that the plans have be

en drawn up, and with the approval of all the requisite agencies, work on the project will begin in short order. The project was made possible through the Education Transformation Unit.

Acting principal of the school, Rosalee Ramdon, said the construction of a new facility was way overdue.

“I am afraid for my children when they have to go down there [to use the latrines] especially the little ones,” she said, adding that she has been allowing the students in the lower grades to use the modern toilets which the Ministry of Education built for staff 17 years ago.

Ramdon said Douglas responded quickly to her request for a new refrigerator, a deep freeze and at least six toilets, and even offered to seek funding for a training centre to be erected on the school compound.

“And I want a computer lab for my children inside that training centre,” Ramdon, an information technology training advocate said.

Every morning, she wheels out a computer for the early birds to access reading programmes or educational games and throughout the day allots sessions for both students and teachers to learn how to use the computers.

Rock River was one of the 71 primary and all-age schools islandwide that USAID/Jamaica selected for its seven-year New Horizons for Primary Schools Project (NHP), which ended last year. Under the programme, three computers were donated to the school.

The school has also received assistance from the Jamaica Social Investment Fund. During Hurricane Ivan in 2004, the United Church building, which sits on the school compound, collapsed, disturbing a space that was often used as an outdoor classroom.

Since then, JSIF has asphalted the road up to the school and constructed a new classroom and library at a cost of $4.5 million.

Ramdon said she is happy that the school, which she joined in 1989, is taking modern turns.

The two other MPs who attended Rock River are Andrew Vivian Ross (deceased), who served from 1949 to 1967 and his son Alva Ross who served from 1967-1989. Today, the Ross’ cousin, Fay Ross, is one the four teachers at the school.

mccattyk@jamaicaobserver.com