A fresh start – Point Hill school once infested by termites gets $13M facelift

September 2, 2019 0 By Horace Mills

Teachers and students of Point Hill Leased Primary School in St Catherine moved into extensively rehabilitated facilities at the start of the school year today, September 2.

The new-looking building, new partitions, furniture and electrical fixtures are a far cry from the dilapidated termite-infested structures that caused educators to protest at the school on January 7.

Principal Shernette Powell told The Beacon that the rehabilitation works started in the previous school year when the teachers became restive and sat outdoor along with their students.

Ruel Reid, who was education minister at the time, allocated $13 million for the rehabilitation, the principal said.

“We started preparation since the story [was published] about the building. Between that time and now, the entire school has been changed, [and] the entire electrical fixture has been changed. We have new whiteboards in our classrooms, all classrooms have been painted, and since yesterday we got some new furniture from the Ministry of Education,” added Powell.

She said the board partitions that the school once used have been replaced with sophisticated sound-proof ones.

The principal continued: “We had a fairly smooth start to the school year. It could have been somewhat smoother in terms of the desks and chairs that we got just yesterday. Though we are grateful, it could have made for a smoother start because only some teachers were here yesterday, so the desks and chairs had to be removed today.”

Powell further told The Beacon that the education ministry has promised to provide the school with potable water, adding that she is optimistic that the precious commodity will be delivered this week.

Powell said none of her teachers has migrated, adding that the student enrollment in Grade One has jumped from about 38 to 50. The total student population is roughly 300.

The new look
The old look

**Board partitions removed and replaced with sophisticated sound-proof ones shown above**

**Freshly painted classrooms and new white boards installed in all classrooms**

NEW: The classrooms now have new furniture
OLD: Inside the classrooms previously looked like this

**New furniture and freshly painted inner-walls**

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