Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (front centre), makes a point as he looks at equipment in the industrial arts department at Wolmers Boys School in Kingston during his visit to the institution on Monday, September 25. Listening keenly to Minister Reid are Wolmer’s Bursar, Eaton Facey (left), and Board Chairman, Lincoln McIntyre (right).
Education Minister Pledges $6 Million to Improve Industrial Arts Department at Wolmers Boys
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information will be providing $6 million towards the repair and replacement of equipment in the industrial arts department at Wolmers Boys School in Kingston.
Portfolio Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, gave the commitment after observing the need during a visit to the school on Monday (September 25).
The Minister encouraged other institutions with areas of need to apply to the Ministry for funding.
“Our (fund for) special projects has been increased substantially and, therefore, we are able to give much greater support to our schools across the country. Once schools have special projects, they can apply to the Ministry and we’ll fund them,” he told JIS News in an interview.
“We have developed one of the most successful funding policies ever in the history of this country, by substantially improving the resources to all schools from primary to secondary, delivering the funds on time, and so, as we get special requests, we also assist with funding,” he added.
Wolmer’s Trust Chairman, Milton Samuda, thanked the Education Minister for the continuous support to the institution.
“The support from the Ministry of Education has been tremendous. The additional support pledged this morning… of $6 million towards a special project, is evidence of that.”
Improvement of the Industrial Arts Department is the next major project for Wolmers Boys. Mr. Samuda informed that the old boys’ association is contributing $2 million towards the undertaking.
The school’s last major project was the construction of a state-of-the-art auditorium.
The facility, on which work started in August 2014, was completed in 2015 at a cost of $171 million, under the guidance of an alumni-led team.
The 11,840 square-foot auditorium accommodates 2,300 students standing and 1,800 seated and is available for use by Wolmer’s Girls’ and Wolmer’s Preparatory Schools.
Source: JIS.gov.jm
