Some of 651 students of the Albert Town Primary and Infant school in South Trelawny, will soon be enjoying separated facilities which will permit the student body in each group to have an enhanced learning experience.
The project is being implemented through a USD 12.085 million loan to the Government of Jamaica by the Caribbean Development Bank, under the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), implemented Community Investment Programme (CIP). JSIF has budgeted approximately $27,578,365.65 for this project, with an additional $4,060,000 expected in community contribution, in kind.
The Community Investment Project focuses primarily on the provision of basic infrastructure in the education, health, and transportation sectors in rural Jamaica. The total cost is $31,638,365.65. Project completion is expected in four months.
The school was selected by the JSIF as there is a heavy dependence on welfare in the community, evident as 40 per cent of the students are on the PATH programme.
Works include the construction of an Infant facility complete with its own administrative and sanitary facilities, and including four (4) classrooms; kitchen; sick bay; administrative area; sewer and drainage; sanitary facilities ; and covered corridor. A play area with equipment (jungle gym, slides, swings) will also be constructed with perimeter fencing for the school 2.1m high.
Rhonda Lumsden-Lue General Manager of Human Resources, Administration, MIS, and Communications at the JSIF stated at the sponsor signing event on Thursday, February 28, that when completed, the expanded facilities will serve students from surrounding communities such as Stettin, Allsides, Boucher, Warsop, Dutch Hill, Buttup Town, and Wilson Valley with some students coming from communities as far as 11 km away.
She noted, “The facilities in the school are currently overwhelmingly overcrowded. Additionally, the students of the Infant School do not have their own bathroom or playing facilities.”
Currently, the Infant Department is housed in the same building as the Primary Department, which is also not recommended by the ECC.
The use of the same bathroom facilities by both the Primary and Infant departments is not recommended by the Early Childhood Commission (ECC), due to the variance in specification standards for different age groups, such as the height of the toilets.
Additionally, the infant department is located the farthest from the bathrooms. The teachers have reported that often times the children have `accidents` before they reach to the bathrooms, because they are not able to reach in time to `relieve` themselves. The ECC has refused to grant certification to the school, due to their failure to meet the criteria regarding bathroom and other facilities.
The infants have no designated play area, and instead they play in the same areas as the older students. The areas in which these children play have huge stones, and are deemed unsafe for any child to play. The older children also tend to be more aggressive, and this poses a threat to the younger children.
It is to be noted that the absence of partitions and the overcrowded classrooms, also affects the learning process negatively.
Mrs. Lumsden-Lue noted, “There is evidence that this school has maintained high enrolment and attendance rates. The school within itself has been quite efficient in managing limited resources well.
They build the present toilets from their own efforts, and have done painting and other projects on their own.
“We commend the sponsor body, the Albert Town Benevolent Society, which has pursued this project as a priority. The Society is very active in the community, and this is encouraging when sustainability of the project is considered,” Lumsden-Lue stated.
Source: http://www.westernmirror.com/index.php/permalink/6023.html