There have been discussions about the reconstruction of the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church on Main Street but there will be no rebuilding of the Sacred Heart Primary School.
Education Minister Dr Henry Jeffrey told Stabroek News yesterday that the government "would not be building back a school" at least not in the Sacred Heart compound.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education is looking at a shift system with other schools to accommodate the children of Sacred Heart Primary as it would prove too costly to rent a building. Based on a school mapping exercise, Jeffrey said, there were schools in the North Georgetown area to meet the needs of the school population.
Before the Christmas Day fire, which also gutted the church, presbytery/parish hall, a customs brokerage and a bond, Sacred Heart Primary accommodated 1,422 children. It was one of the largest schools in the country.
Jeffrey said once there is no school in the area there would be no need to place children there as the area was basically a commercial one. He said the need that the school would have fulfilled when it was built was no longer there.
He said two-thirds of the school population lived outside the catchment area. Many came from the East Coast and East Bank Demerara, South Georgetown and even from West Demerara. Many children were placed at Sacred Heart Primary because their parents worked in the city. But Jeffrey said the criteria that allowed for children to be placed near their parents' workplaces would most likely be reviewed as well.
One observer told Stabroek News yesterday that many sought to get their children into the school because of its tradition of excellence at the Secondary Schools Entrance Examinations.
Commenting on the possible rental of a downtown building in the vicinity of the school, Jeffrey said that option was out because the owner wanted some $6 million a month. That sum, he said, could be better put to rebuilding a school.
Meanwhile, several parishioners have told Stabroek News they would like to see the church rebuilt in spite of arguments that the congregation could be absorbed into surrounding parishes.
However, they would be given the opportunity, following a New Year's Day Special Mass to be celebrated by Head of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Guyana, Bishop Francis Alleyne, to share their thoughts and their hopes for the future of the church.
The mass would be held in the burnt-out compound at 9 am.
Yesterday a group of em-ployees from John Fernandes Ltd were at work clearing the debris from the compound at the expense of the company in preparation for the erection of a tent for the New Year's Day mass.