MANCHESTER, Jamaica— Teachers and students of the Patrick Town Primary and Infant School in Manchester will benefit from increased accommodation and modern infrastructure, with the completion of a new building for the 2021/2022 academic year.

Through a donation of $32 million from the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund, the school located in Ellen Street, Manchester, was able to address the issue of a lack of adequate classroom space at the institution.

Patrick Town Primary and Infant School was once a stand-alone primary school. However, it transitioned to infant status in 2016 following a rationalisation activity by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MOEYI) where a few basic schools in the area were merged with the Patrick Town Primary School.

Reverend Barrington Bailey, Chairman of Patrick Town Primary and Infant School, stated that the rationalisation activity resulted in the school’s administration having to reorganise the space available to accommodate the new students and teachers. The staff room and Math room were converted into classrooms for the incoming students.

“The school had to make space for them, so the rooms that were used for grades one and two students were transformed to accommodate the little ones, and that resulted in a change in the overall infrastructure at the facility. Several things were lacking because they didn’t have a proper play area and teachers did not have a staff room,” he explained.

The infant department of Patrick Town Primary and Infant School has a population of 29 infants – 18 boys and 11 girls, with a complement of two trained teachers and a caregiver.

To date, the CHASE Fund has invested $5.7 billion in the early-childhood education sector. This has not only built and renovated schools but also financed capacity building for institutional administrators, early-childhood educators and practitioners; contributed to revisions in curriculum design; facilitated nutrition interventions; and supported the acquisition of vital educational aids and resource materials, the release stated.

According to Reverend Bailey, the new building’s facilities will improve the learning environment for teachers and students at the school.

“I think this new building will impact their mental readiness a lot in that they have more space, each teacher will have their classroom, the bathroom facilities will now be adequate, so their state of mind should be in a better place of readiness as we get ready for face-to-face learning,” he explained.

Reverend Bailey also added that he expects this new building to boost the likelihood of the infant department being certified by the Early Childhood Commission.

The school’s chairman praised the CHASE Fund for its contribution to the development of the rural institution’s infrastructure.

“We laud their efforts, as this new building is a massive improvement to the school itself and it will stand out in the community; and the community is, of course… proud of their institution and its new addition,” Reverend Bailey said.

Chief Executive Officer, CHASE Fund, Billy Heaven, added that the organisation is committed to facilitating the upgrade of some of these institutions to provide the best environment for optimal learning.

“The real value of these schools is the purpose that they will serve to start the journey of nurturing the significant years of a child’s life, to influence how they learn to relate to their peers and those in positions of authority, and to provide a place where they will learn to take pride in themselves, school, community and their country,” he said.

Heaven noted that all students are entitled to a standard of education that sets them up for future success.

In the 2020/2021 financial year, the CHASE Fund financed 12,000 square feet of infrastructure development through the construction, renovation and expansion of five infant schools and departments across Jamaica for a total of $134 million.

The schools that benefited from this infrastructural development are the Lacovia Primary and Infant School (St Elizabeth), Free Hill Primary and Infant School (St Mary), Priory Primary and Infant School (St Ann) and Pondside Primary and Infant School (Hanover).