The $2.4 million repair of Stephen Dillet Primary School is not going according to plan as there seems to be delays.

Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd revealed on Wednesday that construction will be delayed by one week for the installment of new furniture and equipments.

Lloyd estimates about “75 percent or maybe 80 percent” of the work has been completed – leaving 25 percent to 15 percent of repairs to be done within the next three weeks.

Students will be able to occupy the classroom and access the bathrooms come September 4, but it was noted that some of the new classrooms do not have windows.

Lloyd said there will be space for natural light to infuse classrooms.

The school will feature new equipment which includes Wi-Fi throughout the entire building and iPads for interactive learning.

Construction workers were busy building 29 classrooms, new administrative offices, new restrooms, and a restored library space and center.

In addition, there will be two preschool classrooms to accommodate approximately 40 students.

The one week delay, however, means classes will not be ready for pre-vetting of teachers on August 28.

It is a concern for Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) President Belinda Wilson, but she is optimistic about the progress.

“They will be able to occupy the classrooms and access the bathroom. So if the teachers and students are able to occupy those rooms, the other work can continue. But we don’t intend for them to last forever,” Wilson said.

BUT and the Ministry of Education is in a close partnership, so Wilson expects updates on the constructions.

“We have agreed and the union has agreed we will work together. So if there is a challenge, we are expecting him or his team to inform us and he has asked use to do.  If we do a walk about or we do an inspection of a school and we realize that work is not going on or its not moving in a timeline that we expect, then we ought to keep him in the loop.”

Lloyd considers the repairs as “a transformation and an upgrade” for the public primary school.

Public schools, such Stephen Dillet Primary, have problems of old buildings and overpopulation.

“We’re at a place where our infrastructure is old and failing. Needs to be replaced. Will be replace as soon as resources permit. This has a compliment of 821 students. That’s slightly overcrowded. A limit we would not like to have,” Lloyd said.

The minister’s intention is to “ameliorate” the circumstances with more classrooms and schools.

October is the expected deadline and Wilson assured that repairs will be fully completed.