Nabawischool expands with 8 new coronaproof classrooms

The Nabawi school located in Paramaribo-Nord has been extended with 8 new classrooms. The festive opening took place on Friday 13 May and was performed by Minister Bronto Somohardjo of the Interior (BiZa) and Gracia Valies, Director General of Education (AVO) of the Ministry of Education, Science and of Culture (minOWC). They are the first premises in Suriname that comply with the covid and post-covid rules, which were established a year ago by the minOWC. Design and management were in the hands of Marciano Dasai.

Minister Somohardjo, who also has the political area of ​​religious affairs in his portfolio, spoke of a very happy day for the Nabawi School, which is under the Islamic Municipalities Foundation of Suriname (SIS). The Minister indicated that Islam is a religion that advocates knowledge and cooperation and that the expansion of the school is fully in line with these two pillars of Islam.

Somohardjo expressed the hope that this project can serve as an inspiration to continue working together, but that other schools will also follow an example. He applauds all good initiatives and ensures that he has a partner to count on.

The Minister is pleased that cooperation within the Muslim community leads to the achievement of social goals. The delivery of modern classrooms should serve as an example of cooperation. “This party should show us that if we work together, we can achieve a lot. That when we work together, we can also achieve great things.

The minister is convinced that if unity and solidarity among people become even stronger, every neighborhood can have a nabawi school. “Only by acting in solidarity and unity can we have our say.”

Classrooms have good natural ventilation and therefore contain a maximum of windows and doors. The physical aspect was also taken into account by the designer during construction and exudes a certain energetic atmosphere. According to Dasai, the work does not stop at construction and delivery, but maintenance is now the most important factor. This was anticipated and the new classrooms were built in such a way that they have a self-financing capacity. After school hours, the rooms can be rented for conferences, meetings and training.

The school project was completed in 11 months. Local and international donors and sponsors have been able to achieve this expansion with the support of many volunteers, parents, school board, supporters, school staff and SIS members. With the acquisition of these new classrooms, the school can meet the strong demand for new enrollments for primary education.