New $688M Christ Church Secondary School to be completed by March
Minister of Education Priya Manickchand has announced that the new $688 million Christ Church Secondary School is set for completion by March 2025.
“We had a change in design because the school is now completely different from what it initially was,” Minister Manickchand shared during her Ministry’s year-end press conference on Friday.
“These are some of the challenges we face. We want schools to be built safely, and we are working with contractors who bid publicly. Trust me, this is something we want finished, too. In fact, we wanted it finished so much that we adopted a new approach. We decided to divide the project into eight lots and assign them to eight contractors, all of whom will work simultaneously to complete the school.”
The Education Minister noted that she has been meeting with contractors and consultants, emphasizing the urgency of completing school projects on time. “Sometimes, people bid for projects they cannot execute. We’ve had this experience at Kwebanna and Tuschen—contractors failed to complete the work, forcing us to find replacements. That’s a process in itself. These challenges are real, but we can’t wring our hands; we have to overcome them.”
In 2023, the government signed $688 million in contracts with multiple contractors to rebuild the school within seven months. However, delays have now pushed the deadline to March 2025.
The consultancy contract for the project was awarded to Innovative Engineering Consultancy Services.The new building, measuring 209 feet by 70 feet, will be constructed on the same site as the previous school at Middle and Camp Streets, Georgetown.
It is designed to accommodate 450 to 500 students and will include 20 modern classrooms, nine laboratories, and teachers’ quarters.
Over 500 students were displaced in January 2023 when a fire destroyed the original Christ Church Secondary School. The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) later reported that the fire had been deliberately set.
