THE DUPONT Primary School which is located in the inner-city community of Olympic Gardens, St. Andrew, will soon be receiving additional classroom space as a contract valued at J$15 million was recently signed for the expansion of the school.
The contract that was signed recently between the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and the school, will see the construction of an eight classroom two-storey block and steel structure.
Currently, one of the four classroom blocks is in an unsuitable condition and as such, is inadequate to meet space demands. This block houses six grade one and two grade two classes.
JSIF's Human Resource Manager, Grace Ann Miller, who spoke on behalf of the fund, noted that throughout the organisation's history "We have always emphasised the need for investment in the education sector. This has resulted in us investing nearly 50 per cent of our total budget in the education sector."
Ms. Miller pointed out that since the JSIF's inception in 1996, the board has approved J$3.84 billion for the implementation of 804 projects islandwide. In St. Andrew alone, she noted that 144 projects had been approved representing an approved investment of over $503 million.
The expansion of the Dupont Primary School is being carried out by contractor D. Bisasor and Associates and is scheduled for completion in six months. Over 2,200 students and 21 teachers will benefit upon the completion of the expansion works.
Financing of the project is from a soft-loan through the World Bank's National Community Development Programme.
