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$130M Onderneeming Primary School commissioned
Kaieteur News-The Ministry of Education on Wednesday commissioned the $130M Onderneeming Primary School in Region Two. Construction of the school began early 2024 and was only recently commissioned.
Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand; Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr. Ashni Singh; and President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Mr. Daniel Best among other Regional and Education officials were present at the commissioning ceremony.
The newly constructed Onderneeming Primary School built in Region Two. (Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Finance)
The school project was being undertaken through financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Government of Guyana.
It was reported that in March 2024, the government through the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) programme, signed the $130,821,128 contract with Builders Hardware, General Supplies and Construction to construct the school. The project was supervised by consultant E&A Consultants Inc.
Delivering remarks on behalf of President Irfaan Ali, Minister Singh said that it is the Government’s vision to ensure that every child, even those who are differently abled, is given the opportunity to get a good quality primary and secondary education,
Dr. Singh also noted that the commissioning of the school is just one of many live and direct examples of the impact of the work that the CDB has been doing, and the impact that the work of the Bank can do to real people in real life settings.
In his address, the President of CDB, said that the opening of the school is a living embodiment of President Ali’s bold vision to materially invest in human capital in Guyana.
“Education is the cornerstone of development and progress. It empowers individuals, transforms communities and lays the foundation for a brighter future. Today you are taking a momentous step in ensuring that every child in this community has access to the education that they rightly deserve, this is what development is all about, ensuring that our children have access to more and better opportunities than we did,” Best said.
Meanwhile, Minister Manickchand related that with the United Nations (UN) declaring that the country has already achieved universal primary education, her government will continue to build schools where it is needed. She added too that with the numerous secondary schools under construction, the goal is to achieve universal secondary education in 2026.
Further, Regional Chairperson of Region Two, Vilma DeSilva said that the primary school is a significant investment since Onderneeming is a developing community in the region. DeSilva said too that the community’s roads have been upgraded, a large solar farm is being constructed, and soon they will be commissioning a water treatment plant there.
The Basic Needs Trust Fund is a grant funded programme by the CDB which aims to reduce the incidence of poverty by targeting the cause of inequitable access to quality education. The school project is funded by CDB through the fund and the Guyana Government.
Government had stated in a public advertisement previously that it has received US$ 7,937,000 financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) towards the cost of the Basic Needs Trust Fund Tenth Programme (the BNTF 10). The BNTF shared previously that the move to have this school built is that a gap has been identified in the community of Onderneeming. It was noted that students from Onderneeming had to travel to the Suddie Primary School to access their education.
($130M Onderneeming Primary School commissioned)
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