New school for Salisbury, three years later

Minister for Education Octavia Alfred cutting the ribbon at official ceremony for the handing over of the new school

Minister  for  Education, Human Resource Planning, Vocational Training and National Excellence, Octavia Alfred has stated that the new amenities at the newly-opened Salisbury Primary School are set to enhance teaching and learning at the institution.

On October 14, 2020, following three years of reconstruction, the new primary school was officially handed over to the staff and students of the Salisbury Community.

Due to the impact of Hurricane Maria in 2017, schooling was interrupted for 100 percent of Dominican students. Out of  the 136 schools and educational centers on the island,  62 needed minor repairs, while 52 were partially  damaged and 67 suffered high damage.

The Salisbury Primary School was one of the schools severely damaged necessitating a relocation of school classes to two community churches. Months later, the Government was able to secure US1 million dollars from the government of India with other international agencies as implementing partners.

The government of  Canada, through the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), supported with funding, to construct the school. Significant support was also provided by the Cuban government in the form of labor to advance construction. Later, the ministry of education engaged Argos construction to complete the project.

In delivering the feature address, at the ceremony, Alfred said, “not only are we expecting improvement in students performance, we also anticipate improvement in behaviours and attitudes which can play a role to enhance the  learning process. This new stimulating environment I believe, will raise the expectation of parents and  teachers and act as a powerful motivator for overall success.”

Throughout the life of the project, significant aid was provided by the United Nations Development  Programme, (UNDP) in  Dominica which served as the implementing partner for the  government of India.

Head of the Dominica Office of UNDP, Luis Francisco Thais, said the collaboration and hard work which went into reconstructing and revamping the Salisbury school confirms once again, the government’s unparalleled commitment to become the first climate resilient nation in the world.

Some of the new upgrades that Thais highlighted include the  restoration of both buildings to meet wind and seismic standards such as rebuilding column footings, strip  footings, sheer walls and structural steel beams and new metal roof structures. Windows and doors as well as electrical and plumbing materials were also replaced and new exterior and internal walls were constructed.

In addition, the internal layout of the buildings was also redesigned to accommodate seven regular classrooms which include an early childhood development section, a computer lab, a library and literacy room, art room, an auditorium, an adult education classroom and a school feeding programme (kitchen and cafeteria). The new layout also provided for a staff room and principals office, storage and utilities room and new washroom facilities.

The lower section of the school was outfitted with all necessary amenities to encourage students’ participation and attendance and enhance the learning experience. An early childhood facility also forms part of the new structure to cater to pupils between three and five years.

Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Business and Export Development, Ian Douglas, who represented the Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit at the ceremony, also gave some remarks.

He described the occasion as “remarkable,” and expressing gratitude to the several counties and international organizations who contributed to its realization.

According to Douglas, the government will continue to create the enabling environments to cause communities to empower themselves and to make it possible for every Dominican to get an opportunity to excel.

“Resilience has  been the philosophy of this government, especially after Hurricane Maria, and  we do not only mean in infrastructure but resilience of the entire economy and  most importantly resilience of people, the  citizenry of Dominica,” Douglas noted. “And that’s what we’re doing; we are building for the future, not only in the types  of structures we are building, but also in the lives that we are molding, the students here, making them even more resilient than they were before the hurricane.”

Douglas encouraged the residents of Salisbury to embrace the new learning facility and not only view it as such but also as a place where they can gather to partake in activities which  will enhance the entire community and surrounding areas.

 

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12 Comments

  1. October 19, 2020

    Nice vibes scholars need a proper school! Stop all the negativity. Jah Rasta

  2. Roger Burnett
    October 19, 2020

    It would have been more fitting if one of the students had been chosen to cut the ribbon.

  3. Conscious
    October 19, 2020

    Why was my comment deleted when the information I gave about the school being renovated it is not a new school. Shame on DNO for doing such a poor job on information. The school was there before hurricane David. What about free speech.

    ADMIN: your other comments were posted. Please check again. If you are referring to something else please let us know.

  4. Ibo France
    October 19, 2020

    @KID WITH A COMPLETE MENTAL BLOCK

    “Only Big Mouth Scruggs has.” This comment is clearly indicative of a person with a shrinking brain and has serious cognitive difficulties with learning anything of substance. There must be a vacuum in his head where a brain should be.

    At this critical juncture, Dominica needs people of courage, intelligence, perspicuity not more dim-witted, credulous citizens who are satisfied and blinded by receiving mere crumbs from someone’s table.

  5. RoRo
    October 19, 2020

    Everything positive that happens in DA is accompanied by huge doses of DLP/Government propaganda, even though they virtually had no input in the project!

    • Man bite dogs
      October 21, 2020

      @RoRo, you want to educated yourself your knowledge and others like you and your lazy so-called workers clown leader is extremely poor!

  6. Conscious
    October 19, 2020

    This is not a new school. The school has been renovated. It is misleading to say otherwise. When hurricane David destroyed Dominica in 1979 the villagers took refugee in that school. Get an old pic compare it to this and find the new in it. Journalists should educate its readers. Since I went to this school 40 yrs ago I will talk about the difference. The open blocks at the front was blocked and a front window was added. At the back were aluminum windows. The classes were pationed with bifold. Why would someone erase our memories . The information needs to be corrected.

    • LawieBawie
      October 22, 2020

      I totally agree with your reasoning. I too went to this school 45 years ago. I still have a picture of my cousin Dr. Joyce (Tain Tain) Royer cutting the ribbon at the opening.

  7. Consvious
    October 19, 2020

    Get the headline correct. That school was renovated. That school was there when my brother went to school he is 60. Mr St Hiliare, a very loved man by the villagers was principal of that school. Mr Sebastian of Colihaut was principal of that school. When I wrote common entrance Mr James was principal of that school. That old water tank that breed mosquito is still there. Both of them are still there. At one time we were ask to bring our own water to the school.
    It is good the school was renovated but to headline it new is misleading. We had good memories at that school. Why would our history be thrown away. There is a plaque at the entrance at that school. Don’t mess with our history.

  8. KID ON THE BLOCK
    October 19, 2020

    Only BIG MOUTH Spraggs has.
    Why he didn’t stop the ceremony!?

  9. Let's Pretend
    October 18, 2020

    Wow! You mean to tell me Skerrit had the guts to enter in his $64,000 dollars a month mansion before the children of Bawi entered their school man. No wonder Ian Douglas who is on record saying that he cannot trust Skerrit because he fooled him more than twice but for the sake of the party he pretending, was the one Skerrit sent to cover for him. What a corrupt Mobster!!!

  10. Ibo France
    October 18, 2020

    The missing 1.2 billion of CBI money could have sufficed to build and renovate most schools and public edifices. Too many public structures are in a sorry state of disrepair. The government should not have to rely on foreign entities for funds to repair or reconstruct most public properties. The CBI financial account should be an open book. The use of the people’s money should not be shrouded in air-tight secrecy.

    Dominica needs most things new. We need a new public library, a new and improved network of roads and bridges, new police stations, etcetera. But most of all, we are desperately in need of a BRAND NEW CARING, HONEST and ASTUTE GOVERNMENT.

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