Latest update September 4th, 2026 10:24 AM
Massara Secondary School officially commissioned
The Massara Secondary School in North Rupununi, Region Nine.
Kaieteur News – Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand on Friday joined residents of Massara Village, Region Nine to officially commission the first secondary school building.
This publication reported in January that the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) office awarded the school project to Osbert and Sons Construction for $182 million. NPTAB also awarded a $78,383,760 contract for the construction of a seven-apartment teachers’ quarters in the village, which was set to be executed by 3D Construction.
According to Minister Manickchand, the first set of occupants of the brand-new school will be 180 children and 10 teachers.
When plans were initially announced to build a secondary school there, Kaieteur News had reached out to the Toshao of Massara, Mr. Arnold Bartholomew who related the request for the school was made some time ago, given the challenges faced by children in his village and neighbouring communities.
Toshao Bartholomew had disclosed in January, that there is a secondary school in Annai which is some distance away, where students from his village attend.
“One challenge would have been transportation. Both rainy season and dry season transportation wise and children do not have transportation to travel up there (to Annai) and some of the children do not want to stay in the dorms in Annai, and most of them go to school from home,” he related.
With a population of 584 residents, the Toshao stated that about 50 students from his village attend the Annai Secondary School. They would mostly travel by motorcycle or bus to attend school which he said takes approximately 45 minutes.
Sections of the Massara Secondary School which was commissioned by Minister Priya Manickchand on Saturday.
Meanwhile, he said that the new secondary school when completed, will not only eliminate this challenge for Massara students, but for those students from nearby communities and satellite villages.
Kaieteur News understands that with the construction of the new secondary school in Massara, students from Yakarinta, Kwaimatta, Toka and Taushida Villages will no longer have to travel long distances to get to school.
Massara is one of the nine new secondary schools that will be established in Region Nine. Some of the other villages where schools have been built or are being built, include Shulinab, Katoka, Yupukari, Maruranau, Nappi, Tabatinga, Karasabai, and Karaudarnau villages.
The education ministry has embarked on an aggressive programme to ensure that the nation’s children have access to secondary education by constructing several secondary schools across the country. With 42 new secondary school buildings across the country, the Government had set 2026 as the target to achieve Universal Secondary Education (USE).
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