Government is hoping to expand the capacity of the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic (SJPP) by having an extension in the north of the island, that will cater to specialised programmes.
Minister of Education Ronald Jones, speaking to media after a Press conference at the Barbados Community College on Friday, said the SJPP did not currently have the capacity to cater to the thousands of applicants who tried to gain entrance each year.
He noted already the SJPP had started an extension to the east, to give more space to those areas which were in heavy demand like the electronics and electrical installation and cosmetology, but noted under the human resource development initiative taken by the ministry, there was a need to find a greater space to accommodate the students.
Jones said each year numerous students had been disappointed, but added that with an extension in the north, more students could be educated in the specified areas.
“If 4 000 students apply and only 1 000 get in, that is only 25 per cent and every year more is added so we have to try to take those numbers up” he stated.
The minister said they hoped to start the initiative within the next year, but noted that they would be looking to utilise schools in the areas first, before they could do the infrastructural work for a new building.
The extension is to cater to students from the northern areas of St James, St Lucy, St Andrew and St Joseph, with the hope of cutting down the amount of time spent travelling cross country.
(CT)