The Sister Marie Laurence Primary School in Middle Region.
PHILIPSBURG--Sister Marie Laurence Primary School, Charles Leopold Bell Primary School, and Leonald Connor Primary School are among a set of prioritised schools where repair work will start in October, Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs told Members of Parliament (MPs) on Friday during a Parliament meeting that discussed the implementation of programmes under the St. Maarten Trust Fund.
According to Jacobs, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (ECYS) prioritised several schools for repairs and the work will be carried out under the yet-to-be-implemented Fostering Resilient Learning Project.
She said the funding for the project had been approved by the Trust Fund Steering Committee in July 2019.
The maximum budget of the project is US $30 million and it is aimed at restoring access to inclusive education, learning and cultural services, and improving the resilience of St. Maarten’s education system.
Government received the funds for the project in December 2019 and the public tenders for the works are set to be published in July, said Jacobs.
All of St. Maarten’s public schools were insured as of April, she said, adding that the value of the insurance policies was based on the schools’ most recent appraisal reports.
In the meeting’s second round of questions, MP Angelique Romou of National Alliance (NA) asked what provisions have been made for the schools, considering that the school year will reopen in August, but repair work will only start in August. She also asked about the start date for repairs at the non-prioritised schools.
The meeting was adjourned after the second round of questions and will be reconvened.
