Government to construct $50M Special Needs school

Nov 22, 2012 News

 
Government has approved funding for the construction of the S50.19M Special Needs school which will be housed in the same compound with the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre, located on Carmichael Street, Georgetown.
This disclosure was made by Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, during one of his weekly media briefings yesterday.

The proposed new Special Needs school

The Special Needs building will cater for at least 60 disabled students. It will replace the three small and clustered classrooms located at the top flat of the Ptolemy Reid rehabilitation centre and will continue to provide rehabilitative services for children who suffer from residual paralysis.
The project is funded by the Government through the Ministry of Education.
Yesterday, Kaieteur News was told that the three classrooms Nursery, Preparatory and Primary, have a population of 40 students.
According to the school’s head master, Anand Mangru, the current space in the classrooms is very small. He added that it is difficult for students to reach to the top flat of the building daily.
“Our students are heavily disabled; some cannot walk, and they have to be lifted. We have a ramp but some of the students with wheelchairs cannot wheel themselves up so we have had to hire a porter. Sometimes when the porter is busy it is difficult for the children to reach their relevant classrooms,” Mangru said.
The school head added that the new school will be more spacious, airy and will be built flat so that the students wouldn’t have a difficult and uncomfortable time while they are in class.
“We will also construct the building in a way where the walls which will divide the classes can move so that when we have any event we will move the walls and have one big hall,” Mangru stated.
In addition to the space, there will be a new classroom to accommodate a computer room which will enable the students to learn a little more about the various forms of advancement in society.