ST. GEORGE’S, GRENADA, Tuesday, October 8, 2013 – GIS: The new administrative wing at the St. Joseph’s Convent (SJC), St. George’s was officially handed-over in a ceremony held on October 8, 2013 at the school compound.
The new structure, located where the old administrative building once sat, now comfortably houses the staff room, principal’s office and other classrooms.
Teacher at the SJC, Ms. Talisha Alexander, reflected on the history of the admin building and the struggles that her fellow staff members suffered prior to its reconstruction.
“The old administrative building had been standing since the days of the government treasury during slavery, it was a boarding school occupied by the nuns and later, the administrative building.
Then it experienced Hurricane Ivan. Up until a year ago, teachers were making our way around buckets of water when it rained, under umbrellas when it poured and with flashlights at our desks when it darkened.”
While Sister Lucy Gabriel, Principal of the Convent, was extremely grateful for the, much needed, new building, she grieved the loss of many school icons in the process.
Minister of Education and Human Resource Development, Honourable Anthony Boatswain, gave praise to the previous government for starting the project at SJC and emphasized the importance of the learning environment to a student’s education. “I want to commend the past administration for the initiative taken to expand this facility providing the administrative wing.
I must also say that it is in keeping with our overall objective of ensuring that the environment in which our teachers have to teach and our students have to learn is as important as what you teach and what you learn,” Minister Boatswain said. “We are committed to ensuring that in all of our schools, given the limitations of financial resources, we will do what we have to do to ensure that there is a better physical environment for our teachers and our students.”
The project was funded by the Caribbean Development Bank in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development.
