Having read several news articles and letters to the editor on the issue of space for the expansion of QRC in light of a decision to use part of the Alexandra Street property as a police command centre, I wish to indicate that the matter should be addressed and resolved as soon as possible.
It should be noted that the area formerly used by the Ministry of Education on Alexandra Street once included a Principal's Residence for QRC, part of which for some years up to about 1920, housed students from remote areas, other West Indian islands, and Venezuela. (See QRC2004, page 13). Moreover, QRC had a space problem as far back as the 1930s, which led to the allocation of classes in 1938 to the building once used as a Principal's Residence. (See QRC100, page 31).
Another building on the Alexandra Street property was designated (perhaps up to around the early 1970s) as the QRC Masters' Quarters for use by teachers at the school who came from other countries including the United Kingdom, Barbados, and Guyana.
The last permanent building to be erected for classroom use, the West Block, was opened in 1956 and extended in 1966. At present the school does not have adequate classroom space and support facilities to fulfill the educational needs of its current student population.
I expect that the educational needs of the school will be seriously considered when the issue is addressed by the relevant authorities.
Ian Green,
Couva