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EBENEZER--A number of persons braved heavy showers to witness the official opening and dedication of Methodist Agogic Center Comprehensive Secondary Education (MAC CSE) building in Ebenezer on Friday afternoon.
The heavy downpour prompted District Secretary Reverend Dr. Joan Meade, who performed the dedication, to delay blessing the new buildings and classrooms with holy water.
The new location has three buildings containing, amongst other things, five classrooms. A fourth structure on the property, which had existed at the location previously, had been refurbished.
Chairman of MAC School Board Reverend Moreland Williams told attendees that it was originally a long-term plan of the institution to construct a building for the secondary school. He said, however, that MAC Browlia F. Maillard Campus in St. John's Estate, where the high school students were originally housed, had "wanted their space." Plans for a high school building had to be fast tracked.
MAC official Dr. Velda James spoke about the school's quality teachers. She identified teachers by name and qualifications. The school has three full-time teachers and a number of part-time teachers.
Four classrooms are currently in use – two first forms and two second forms. James also gave an insight into the curriculum, subjects students are doing and regional exam they will sit. MAC CSE is the first secondary school on the island to offer the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC). The CCSLC curriculum is intended to provide certification for all students who complete secondary school.
As such, a common core of subjects, comprising English, Integrated Science, Mathematics, Modern Languages and Social studies, was developed to provide the learner with the competencies that will serve as a foundation for more advanced studies, the world of work and life as a citizen of the region.
She urged parents to play a bigger role in their children's lives and told them that they should allow their children to be independent learners and critical thinkers. She said parents should assist their children with their projects and not do it for them.
Dignitaries attending the ceremony included President of Parliament and caretaker Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams, caretaker Education Minister Patricia Lourens-Philip and Member of Parliament (MP) and former Education Minister Silveria Jacobs.
MAC CSE originally started at the temporary location at MAC's Browlia F. Maillard Campus in St. Johns. It has always been the vision of MAC founders to continue to secondary education; for the institution to continue on the foundation that has been laid by the elementary section.
