$930M Tuschen Secondary school commissioned

Aug 21, 2025 News

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…to host UG’s College of Medical Sciences

Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali and Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand on Wednesday commissioned the new $930 million state-of-the-art Tuschen Secondary School in Region Three.

First of its kind in the Tuschen community, the school is one of five new secondary schools which the government committed to construct in the region since assuming office.

Delivering the featured address, President Irfaan Ali said part of the reason why such a “beautiful facility” was built in a very populated area in Region Three, is because the school will be converted in the evenings as a branch of the College of Medical Science of the University of Guyana (UG).

“When we spoke about second jobs, and giving tax break for second jobs, the senior doctors that would be working at the hospitals and senior nurses and technicians who are working in the system in Region Three will now have their tax incentives in their second job lecturing at the College of Medical Sciences here in Tuschen and here in Region Three,” he said.

According to the president, there are over 17 programmes in the College of Medical Sciences and at the University. Some 206 applicants were received from Region Three to attend the college. He said because of inadequate space, UG was only able to accept 86 of the 206.

Ensuring that the remaining applicants have somewhere to further their study in medicine, the president said the decision was made to use the new school to host a branch of the college.

Speaking on the reason for government’s investment in education, the president stated, “education is not simply another item in the list of things, we are doing as a government. Education, I want to say is the single most important foundation upon which the future of our country will be built. So that when we build this school, we are not simply erecting another centre of learning, no, we are laying the foundation of a new Guyana that is being created.”

“What sense would it make to have oil, gold, agriculture, but not have the people trained to manage it. What sense would it make to have all of the natural resources but not have the scientist and engineers, the economist to multiply this value, what sense would it make to have billions of dollars flowing into our economy, but not have the children prepared to turn that wealth into opportunities. It would make absolutely no sense. One day our natural resources will be depleted, one day it will not be to the extent that we have it but the minds our of our children once educated, will never run dry or knowledge be ever extinguished,” he continued.

In his plan to build a knowledge economy by 2030, the president said that education is a top priority and the bridge from poverty to prosperity.

“It is the passport from struggles to success, it is the revolution that transforms a people from surviving to thriving,” he added.

Noting that the new modern school is second to none in the country and that it can match any other such schools in the entire Caribbean/ Latin American region, he noted that the Tuschen Secondary School is part of his government’s overarching plan to revolutionise access to and deliver education.

“It is aimed at ensuring that higher levels of attainment by investing in the resources needed to produce better results. Tuschen secondary school says to every child that their dream is valid; it is saying to every parent, your child has a chance and will not be left behind. It says to every teacher that your work is valued. It is my government’s expectation that universal secondary education become a reality in Guyana sooner rather than later,” he expressed.

Meanwhile in her remarks, Minister Manickchand noted that when her government came into office in 2020, there was not enough space to accommodate some 865 children in Region Three who had just written the NGSA exams.

Not only is the government building five new secondary schools to accommodate the region’s children, but over the last three and a half years, the administration created more access to secondary education all across the country.

She stated that goal is to achieve universal secondary education for all and by September 2026, “all over this country children will be able to go to a high school close to where they live and get a sound secondary education.”

Manickchand said since assuming office, the government built 67 nursery schools, 45 primary schools, and has either built or is building 42 secondary schools.

In 2023, the education ministry signed six contracts for the construction of Tuschen Secondary school, valued $864,705,395.

The school was said to be a fully reinforced concrete one flat structure combined with a circular and cylindrical building outline covered in a dome roof. At the signing ceremony it was revealed that the building measured in several blocks from 600 sq. ft. to 7105 sq. ft. The building includes several scientific and research centres, a multi-purpose and cafeteria hall, a storage and changing area, a library and document centre. It also has 24 classrooms to accommodate some 800 students.

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• College of Medical Sciences, Priya Manickchand, state-of-the-art, Tuschen Secondary School

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