The reconstruction of Queen Victoria School may take at least a year.

The Minister for Education, Mahendra Reddy, said the possibility of seeking foreign donors to help rebuild QVS was being discussed.

QVS took a battering when monster storm Winston ripped through the school last month.

Mr Reddy said this would also be an opportunity to reconstruct QVS, which will have state-of-the-art facilities for students.

For current students, Mr Reddy said: “Students have already been sent to schools which are close to their homes. However, island students have been sent to schools with boarding facilities.

“Government is paying the boarding fees of these students at various schools. We are trying everything possible to ensure that education of these students is not further disrupted.”

He commended students from various schools for welcoming QVS scholars.

Mr Reddy said these students have already faced trauma during the height of TC Winston and efforts were made to ensure students stayed focused on their education for the rest of the academic year.

Mr Reddy estimates the damage to QVS to be close to $1million.

“We are looking at working very closely with Ministry of Infrastructure to get a donor probably to construct the facility to make it a top notch,” he said.

Mr Reddy said teachers from QVS had been deployed to other schools in Fiji.

Ratu Kadavulevu School (RKS)

Mr Reddy has confirmed RKS will start on Monday.

“The Ministry of Works is organising the generator because RKS has a large boarding facility,” he said.

“We need cooler storage facility in an operation and lights for children in the night time.”

Edited by Jyoti Pratibha

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