The new $864 million secondary school at Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo is about 90 per cent completed and the project is expected to be completed and handed over in the coming weeks.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand provided this update on Wednesday during a visit to the site.

“It’s coming along real beautifully.

“The whole idea, the new thinking about school is that it mustn’t be burdensome. It must be a place where children want to come…In that they also learn so that they can come out of whatever dire situation they may be coming from, poverty, absent parents or parents who didn’t had opportunity before,” Manickchand said.

The modern structure is one of the five secondary schools being built in Region Three. The school is expected to accommodate over 800 students.

“The kids who will be coming here were in primary tops or crowded up in other schools so when those schools give us those children, they would have more space, we would be able to repair them better,” Manickchand said.

The structure is a fully enforced concrete structure covered in a dome roof. It will have 24 classrooms and will consist of several scientific and research centres, a multi-purpose and cafeteria hall, a storage and changing area and a library and document centre.

The science centre will be equipped with a physics, chemistry and biology lab while the TVET Centre will have industrial and home economics laboratories.

There will also feature fire prevention mechanisms in place such as fire escape exits, escape doors, fire alarms and extinguishers.