Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

The Ministry of Education and Youth yesterday conceded that the proposed Sandy Bay High School to be located in Clarendon would not be ready in time for September.

Thus, some 250 Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) students are to be reassigned to six other high schools in Clarendon and St. Catherine.

"We have now conceded, based on problems we have encountered, that the school will not be ready because of problems with procurement, getting a contractor and getting approval from the parish council ... ," Senator Noel Monteith, State Minister in the Ministry of Education and Youth, told The Gleaner yesterday.

He added: "Looking back, perhaps we were a little ambitious in thinking that we would have gone through the process on time."

Meetings with schools, parents

Senator Monteith's revelations came following a meeting with principals of the schools where the children will be placed. These schools are Denbigh, Innswood, Tacius Golding, Old Harbour, Garvey Maceo and Bustamante.

The Ministry of Education also met yesterday evening with parents of children who were initially placed at Sandy Bay High School. The parents were concerned that the school was to be built in a volatile area, among other things.

But Senator Monteith said the parents were understanding, and some were pleased with the new placements. He noted that the regional office would be talking with those parents who were not pleased, to see howbest they could assist them with new placements.

This is the second time in two weeks that the ministry has had to reassign students to other schools.

Some 250 GSAT students who were placed at Dunbeholden High School in St. Catherine were reassigned to three high schools in Portmore, because plans for the school have been put on hold, based on advice from the National Environment and Planning Agency.

The ministry last year had problems finding space for some 3,000 GSAT students in Region Six, which includes the parishes of Clarendon and St. Catherine.

Subsequently, the ministry implemented a Start-a-School Programme, which was to provide some 1,200 school spaces. These spaces were to come from Sandy Bay, Dunbeholden and Foga Road, Clarendon.

petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com