Sand Hill gets new school building

There was a special occasion today in Sand Hill with the inauguration of a new school building. As News Five found out, the previous structure was so dilapidated, it was a danger to the students.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting

The new school building, which replaces an old church, contains three classrooms and a library. Two weeks ago the old floor collapsed. Fortunately no students were inside at the time. Safety was not the only problem.

Norris Williams, Principal, Guadalupe R.C. School

“Really the floor was already going, caving down, it was sinking we were experiencing the stench of rat bats, wood lice and the building itself was old, the whole structure itself was old.”

Norris Williams, Principal of Guadalupe R.C. School says the new building will provide a safe environment for the boys and girls as well as much needed space.

Norris Williams

“This building was very, very necessary, it was very, very needed. Over the years I have been asking for an additional building because the first building could not house all the classes and the old building was already a high risk building so we needed this building very very much.”

Dorian Barrow, P.S. Ministry of Education

“Well the Ministry of Education is committed to building a thousand classrooms and in an effort to try and increase access, particularly in these rural communities where the participation rate is not as high as we would like to.”

Besides the new building, Area Representative for Belize Rural North Maxwell Samuels gave Guadalupe R.C School and Zion Methodist School two computers each. Norris says high school students in the area will also have access to the equipment.

The building was constructed by Evan Welch. In October, the Ministry of Education provided twenty-five chairs and books will be arriving soon to complement the library.