This is according to Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports Hon. Sharie B. de Castro (Al), while providing remarks on September 15, 2022, during a Pre-Construction meeting at the school while in Jost van Dyke.

'Project long in coming'- Hon de Castro

The meeting, which was in partnership with the Virgin Islands Recovery and Development Agency (RDA), along with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports, has the aim of discussing the construction of the new Jost van Dyke Primary School, which is about to commence.

“I know that this project is a long time in coming, and the community is looking forward to seeing the ground start to be dug up so that we could actually see progress being done.

“We’ve come to a very good point in this project and we look forward to being able to answer any questions that you may have as we seek to ensure that the community continues to be involved in the discussions surrounding this project,” Hon de Castro stated.

She further added that Government is looking forward to the project to meeting the needs of the community holistically.

Dr Neil M. Smith, Director of Programme Strategy, in his remarks also emphasised the impact of this huge development on Jost van Dyke and what it will do for the entire community.

According to the Virgin Islands Recovery and Development Agency (RDA), the new Jost van Dyke Primary School will be more of a multi-purpose educational facility.

Multi-faceted facility

On August 25, 2022, the RDA held a contract signing and groundbreaking ceremony for the multifaceted facility that will encompass 13 classrooms, a science lab, a computer lab, music room, staff room, kitchen, bathroom facilities, principal’s office, storage rooms, 75-thousand-gallon cistern capacity and a learning resource centre.

Local construction firm Quality Construction Limited was awarded the contract for the building of the School to the tune of $4,333, 743.86.

According to RDA, six pre-qualification applications were received for the project, including five from the Virgin Islands and one from St Lucia.

The construction of the new school is not being done at the same location of the new school, rather has adopted a change in to facilitate a stronger and greener building given the current school is prone to flooding in the current area.