Black River High gets new classroom block

An additional classroom block has been constructed at Black River High School in St Elizabeth at a cost of approximately $20 million.

The structure, which comprises four classrooms and a staff room, was built under the government of Japan's Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project and is expected to help ease the overcrowding at the institution.

The National Education Trust provided oversight for the completion of the block, which was officially handed over to the institution last Friday at a special ceremony. Black River High, which was originally built to accommodate 600 students, now has an enrolment of approximately 1,700.

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Fayval Williams said that the additional classrooms will provide a more comfortable learning environment for the students and facilitate the removal of the shift system at the institution.

"Today's handing over is indicative of a commitment to providing the resources to enable our children to do well in an environment that is conducive to learning. We trust that these resources will help to alleviate some of the concerns that parents have about the conditions in which teaching and learning takes place," Williams said.