The construction of two dormitory facilities and a teacher’s quarter at the Bina Hill Youth Learning Centre located at Annai District, Region Nine, is underway.
This new extension will cater for additional students and provide proper accommodation for the tutors.
Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock, during a recent visit to the institution, explained that the project is on schedule and will be completed by mid of this year.
According to a release from the DPI, the dormitories are being constructed at a cost of approximately $60M.
Minister Allicock told the DPI that the aim is to ensure that the students are placed in an environment conducive to learning.
“We are expecting to accommodate at any one time 80 students, and we want to keep it at a level which is manageable because we don’t want a situation where we are overcrowded,” Minister Allicock explained.
The Bina Hill Institute, according to the DPI, is the lone residential tertiary institution located in the hinterland. It provides access to skills training programmes for indigenous youths who reside in Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine.
The students are tutored in natural resource management, forestry, wildlife, agriculture, tourism, business studies, life and traditional skills, basic computer skills, and mathematics and English language. They are also given the opportunity to participate in local and overseas exchange programmes.
Over the past two years, the Government said it has invested millions of dollars to develop the Bina Hill Institute.
In 2016, some $46M was allocated in the National Budget for major rehabilitative works, followed by another $50M in 2017, to cater for the influx of students and further development of the curriculum.
