GUIDANCE counsellors and students at Dinthill Technical High School in Linstead, St Catherine, will soon be able to enjoy improved facilities at the institution through the assistance of the school’s past students.

The school’s trust fund presented a $1-million cheque towards the refurbishing of the guidance counsellor’s office during devotion yesterday morning.

The money, which will offset the $3.5 million to repair the office, was made available from donations by alumni and fund-raising events .

Acting Principal Monica White told the Jamaica Observer that the room had fallen into disrepair. Consequently, the school has been grappling with the leaking of the roof and termites, White said.

In an effort to combat the challenges, the principal said guidance counsellors have been sharing space with the vice-principal.

“We have been seeking the ministry’s assistance in getting it done. They have helped us with some of the buildings that we have but the guidance room has not yet been done. The ministry had done the estimate…but they can’t come up with the [money] now [so we] are seeking to get assistance, and this morning the school’s trust fund has come and has given us $1 million towards that cause, of which we are grateful — but we are still waiting and hoping that the rest will come,” White continued.

According to the acting principal, the school is now anticipating the tendering of the contract to repair the facility.

“Once it over a certain amount it has to go to tender, based on the procurement guideline of the ministry, so we are waiting for that to be done just now. Hopefully we will get that done quickly and get the guidance room up and running,” White said.

During the presentation of the cheque a number of students uttered that some classrooms need urgent repair.

When the Observer sought a response from the principal she admitted they are in the renovation phase. A number of classrooms, she said, that were leaking on the grade seven and nine blocks were repaired recently by the Ministry of Education.

“Oh yes, we are in a rebuilding mood; our theme this year is renewal. After 80 years— 81 years come April one — without having any repair done over these many years you know that things need to be but we have been doing that. we started with the entire grade seven block, like I had mention before, and that one has been repaired and we have been doing that,” she said, adding that the school is in need of classroom space and that they are in dialogue with the ministry.

Emphasising that the school is using what they have to create a conducive learning environment, she said they have transformed an old bathroom in to a classroom to ease the space constraint.

“We are working on it one day at a time. Rome was not built in one day,” she quipped.

Minutes after the Trust Fund presented their cheque, the football team was presented a US$1,000 cheque on behalf of Elite Sprinklers Service CEO and former goalkeeper, Xavier Dean, to assist with the football programme.