By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A $43M school and disaster facility will be constructed in East Grand Bahama.

Government officials said the school will be climate-resilient and will shelter East Grand Bahama residents during hurricanes.

Since Hurricane Dorian wrecked four government schools in East Grand Bahama in 2019, students from East End and those ferried from Sweeting’s Cay have travelled long distances by bus to attend school in Freeport.

The new school will be funded through the Caribbean Development Bank’s Bahamas Education Sector Transformation Project (BEST).

Discussing the school at the Grand Lucayan Resort yesterday, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said input from the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training had determined the school’s design.

“The people of Grand Bahama, I want to assure you that this government is fully committed to addressing the social and economic needs of this island and its people,” he said. “While we knew we needed broad reforms to our system, we also knew that building a new school in Grand Bahama absolutely had to be a part of this project. 

“Our government is steadfast in its commitment to ensuring that every child in our nation has access to the education they deserve, regardless of their background or circumstances.”

The project will also involve retrofitting other schools on Grand Bahama as modernised, climate-resilient and accessible facilities; providing furniture equipment; training and professional development of 2,000 teachers and school administrators; and developing an IT Strategy and Plan for the Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Institute.    

Mr Davis said the project is the Ministry of Education’s latest strategy to help students who lost education opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic and is designed to remediate them and revamp the core curriculum.

Theresa Turner-Jones, acting vice president of operations at the Caribbean Development Bank, said the BEST project will be transformational for The Bahamas, especially Grand Bahama, which is still recovering from Hurricane Dorian.

She stressed that the resources must also help those with learning disabilities.

She noted the country has had difficulty qualifying for concessional financing because the international community considers it a “high-income jurisdiction”.    

She said that every time that business does not come to The Bahamas, it is “because something is not right. And what we need to get right is investment in our people, in our infrastructure, and being best in class; whatever we can do to modernise this economy so that we can compete.”

Education Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin said the BEST project would support the ministry’s strategic efforts and commitment to transforming the education sector.

She said the project’s construction phase will generate employment in East Grand Bahama and have positive multiplier effects in other sectors of the economy.