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Pearnel Charles (left), member of parliament for North Central Clarendon, joins Scotiabank President and CEO Bruce Bowen (centre) and Wayne Hewitt, senior vice-president of corporate and commercial banking, in unveiling the sign of the newly constructed Alexandria Hope Early Childhood institution in New Ground. - Contribute

Scotiabank Jamaica and Food For The Poor officially handed over the newly built Alexandria Hope Basic School to the community of New Ground, Clarendon, last week.

The school was constructed on April 16 by Scotia Volunteers and Food For The Poor in an intense one-day work venture.

It will house 50 students who were previously from two basic schools which were housed in two extremely dilapidated structures.

The new early-childhood facility was built to specification from the Ministry of Education's Early Childhood Commission and includes a spacious schoolroom, principal's office, sick bay, kitchen and two bathrooms. The students will also have the benefit of a new vegetable garden as one of its new features built by the volunteers to allow the school to start a lunch-feeding programme.

Courts Jamaica Limited was another vital partner in the initiative through the donation of stove, refrigerator and bed for the principal's residence.

This structure is a massive improvement over the previous 'schoolrooms', where they were housed in the cellar of the principal's home, and a changing room in the community centre. Teachers and students in the changing room deal with a leaking roof, no windows, no doors and rough concrete floors which left the children with several bruises when they fell.

Meanwhile, the students who attend 'school' in the cellar of principal's home are in a structure that's not very sturdy, limited in space, and without proper sanitary convenience. This is all because both schools lost their original structures to Hurricane Ivan back in 2004. Despite six years passing, the students are still without a schoolhouse and the teachers of the school were trying to make do until now.

The team of more than 140 workers also constructed a teacher's cottage on the same complex. The local group effort was aided with Scotia Volunteers from the Bank's International Corporate and Commercial Banking in Toronto, Canada. The overseas team were integral in the process from the conceptualisation, funding through to construction stages.

The Alexandria Hope Basic School is part of the Scotiabank Bright Future Program, which gives staff members the opportunity to undertake community outreach projects which will benefit children in their communities.

The Alexandria Basic School was first opened in 1993, while Hope Basic School has been operating since 1987.

Source: Jamaica Gleaner