New classrooms open for Tongatapu Primary Schools [1]
Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - 18:07. Updated on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - 19:21.
Students at GPS Nuku’alofa, GPS Hoi, and GPS Talafo’ou, are now enjoying their new classrooms that were opened recently.
The classrooms were repaired and reconstructed after they were damaged by Tropical Cyclone Gita which hit Tonga in February 2018.
At GPS Nuku’alofa, the renovation works for one school building, which opened on 14 September, cost $518,080 pa’anga. Two more buildings are yet to be repaired with the whole project expected to cost $1,275,380 pa’anga.
At GPS Talafo’ou, the new building with three classrooms was reconstructed with $469,450 pa’anga and can accommodate around 75 to 90 students.
While GPS Hoi also had a new building with three classrooms reconstructed costing $645,429 pa’anga which can accommodate around 75 to 90 students.
The new buildings at GPS Talafo'ou and GPS Hoi were commissioned on 10 September.
Australian High Commissioner HE Adrian Morrison commended the Government of Tonga for prioritizing school reconstruction projects as part of the cyclone recovery effort.
“I think we all know that learning is enhanced by the classroom environment. And I commend you all for creating a beautiful learning space.”
He said these climate resilient classrooms mean that schools will be better prepared should another disaster occur.
“And they offer a safe haven for local people to take shelter if required.”
The projects came under the Pacific Resilience Program (PREP) project led by the Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment Climate Change and Communications (MEIDECC) and co-funded by the World Bank and the Australian Government.
The PREP project includes the reparation and reconstruction of school buildings that were damaged by TC Gita which hit Tonga and ‘Eua in February 2018. There are 25 schools in the project, building 33 new buildings and repairing 10.