Latest update May 22nd, 2026 12:38 AM
Parents to scrutinise infrastructural works at city nursery school
As part of its efforts to ensure that schools benefit only from quality infrastructural work, the Ministry of Education has commenced a keen mission to solicit voluntary inspection support from parents.
Minister Manickchand in discussion with the contractor Mr Anruidh Ograsein
This was emphasised when Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, addressed a Parent Teachers’ Association meeting at the Roxanne Burnham Gardens Nursery School on Wednesday. Works are currently underway to facilitate the expansion of the educational facility.
At the forum, Manickchand said that her Ministry has adopted a new policy whereby parents will be permitted to scrutinise all repair or expansion works that are being undertaken on any school property.
“We want to make sure that we have these kinds of meetings so that you are fully involved in this process,” the Education Minister said.
“We can’t be here every day; we can’t come and see what is happening. This is your school, the school for your children and we want to make sure that you understand that you have the right to come and check to see what’s happening…if it is not done well, then it is our babies that will suffer,” stressed the Education Minister.
The Minister said that over the years Government has committed both vocally as well as tangibly, through financial means and other investments to improving the education sector. Some of these, she said, are manifested through the improvement of buildings ensuring that they are spacious and friendly enough to accommodate the teaching/learning process.
But according to the Minister, “We have seen, and we would be lying if we didn’t say to you, that sometimes we put the money, we get the drawings, we start the projects and then at the end of it we get bad work, shoddy work. That is not acceptable to us at the Ministry; it is not acceptable to the Government…
“It is not something we want and we believe strongly that you are in a better position to work along with us to make sure we get the type of schools we are paying for so that at the end of the day all of our children can benefit.”
A section of the gathering during the PTA meeting on Wednesday.
Moreover, Wednesday’s meeting saw Minister Manickchand introducing to the parents in attendance the contractor, Mr. Anruidh Ograsein, who is tasked with conducting the expansion works at the school.
“All these parents here, even the ones who did not come, have a right, more than a right, a duty to check on your work…so please, when they walk through the gate, once they are not putting themselves in harm’s way, they are entitled to that,” the Minister told the contractor.
Ograsein won the contract for the project after bidding for same through the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board.
“We don’t have any record of this man or his company that he will not perform, but we do have records of other contractors not performing, that is why every new school build, we will be having meetings like this so that you can check and form yourselves into groups (to check up on works),” noted the Minister.
The Minister also urged the contractor to work towards ensuring that he completes the project within the specified timeframe and with the allocated sum. The project is being undertaken at a cost of $13, 192,948 and includes the construction of six additional classrooms which are intended to provide greater space for the delivery of education.
Works will entail the construction of a new Head teacher’s office as well as a sick bay.
The project will be supervised by the Ministry’s Chief Engineer, Mr. Rabindra Kishun. The Minister noted that there are times that the Ministry hires consultants to examine the progress of works to determine “whether we should pay, whether the work is up to standard. Some projects we do it in-house…this one is a project that is being done in-house.”
Some aspects of the works have commenced, and according to the Minister, the project is scheduled to be completed by September 30, 2014. However, she noted, “We expect that they are going to have 85 per cent of the works completed by September 1 when school starts.”
The new school year is set to start on September 1, 2014.
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