By Samantha Simon
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Work has begun on the installation of air conditioning units in government schools, a project that aims to combat rising temperatures that have been affecting student learning.
During Thursday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, Chief of Staff Lionel Hurst said many older school buildings will require retrofitting, as they were originally designed to utilise natural cooling from sea breezes.
The selection process for schools receiving air conditioning units will be methodical and practical with the initial focus being on classrooms requiring minimal adjustments to accommodate the new units, he added.
Meanwhile, security cameras will also be installed at schools with higher rates of vandalism and break-ins.
Hurst also provided an update regarding the Boys Training School, reporting significant progress.
“We’re very, very close to opening,” he said.
The facility has undergone extensive renovations, with painting recently completed.
The Boys Training School, a correctional facility for boys aged 10 to 18, has been undergoing renovations for over four years to address previously deplorable conditions.
Hurst outlined that the school will receive upgrades similar to other educational institutions, including security cameras and air conditioning units.
“It forms a part of the school system, although it is somewhat removed,” he explained.
He also highlighted the government’s vision for the facility, saying, “It is our intention to ensure that the boys who are detained there receive the most that they could possibly receive under the circumstances, and at the same time emerge from it as citizens that are whole.”
Hurst said that painting, which was the last major task, has been completed and while furnishing the facility has posed some challenges, he disclosed that a private enterprise has stepped forward with a “generous offer” to provide some of the necessary items.
This progress report follows earlier statements by Junior Social Transformation Minister, Senator Samantha Marshall, who said the institution’s reopening had been pushed back due to a break-in and subsequent damage to the property.
Marshall had also mentioned the implementation of new training programmes for staff in order to meet international standards.