The Ministry of Education gave Tacirua Primary School $40,000 to expand into a secondary school.

This project began with the construction of a Year Nine classroom.

The new high school is expected to open on Wednesday by the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. The school was built in 1962.

School manager Iferemi Karavaki said: “We were given a grant of $40,000 by the Ministry of Education as the intention was to extend one of these buildings to add one more classroom to it.”

There are two classrooms but there will only be one stream for Year 9.

“The classroom is only for Year Nine and next year we have already been allocated another $50,000 to build another classroom block for Year 10, but the problem is the infrastructure.

It is what we are lacking at this point in time,” he said.

The classroom is being built by Nasareci Contractors.

“It was the Ministry who sought to have a high school built here because Adi Cakobau Secondary School is right up there and Latter Day Saints down in Tamavua,” Mr Karavaki said.

“So in between here and there is no high school so the ministry is looking for a high school.”

He said one of the ministry’s representatives visited the school last November and introduced the idea to open a secondary school.

“The students from Tacirua Primary will be moved to the new Year Nine classroom.

“The new classroom is expected to fit close to 50 students but it depends on the limit imposed by the Ministry of Education during enrolment.

“I am quite excited because the parents will not also be paying too much expenses to send their children to high schools in Suva or other places,” Mr Karavaki said.

The Ministry has allocated five teachers for the core subjects (Home Economics, Social Science, English, History, Mathematics, Physics, Accounting and Economics).

“We are also requesting for some more subjects like Technical Drawing, Woodwork and so on,” he said.

According to Mr Karavaki, the school committee has a new uniform designed for the Year Nine students.

Edited by Rusiate Mataika

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