Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd suggested that of the 180 school buildings throughout The Bahamas, half of them need to be demolished.
Mr. Lloyd’s suggestion came on Monday as he addressed administrators at the National Public School’s Administrators’ Conclave and estimated that some $500 to $700 million is needed to complete renewal and improvement of the Physical Plant of public schools throughout The Bahamas, which will be done through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative.
“I cannot speak about professional development without addressing the development of the physical educational setting,” Mr. Lloyd said.
“It is not a stretch to state that some of your schools have been in dire straits, and some of them have been that way for decades.
“One hundred and eighty school buildings, may I say with deep respect to you that 50 percent of them, you might as well take a D.K tractor, turn it on and jump off.
“This country needs somewhere in the neighborhood, and this is just my estimation, of five to $700 million worth of infrastructural and enhancement and development.
“I am now in the process of engaging private sector through a PPP, Public Private Partnership, where we are going to engage the private sector to partner with us with the construction and or upgrades of schools so that we could facilitate an enhanced learning environment in quality 21st century modern infrastructures.
“We cannot leave the state of the Physical Plant the way it is. We cannot!
“We must embark on an aggressive rebuilding and building program in education.”
Major schools that will benefit from this partnership are schools such as R.M. Bailey, L.W. Young and L.N. Coakley in Exuma.
Schools that will see significant improvement in its physical setting this September are Stephen Dillet, Government High School, Sybil Strachan and Garvin Tynes.
