BY SYLVANA TEKUMAHA

The Japanese Embassy of Solomon Islands has signed a grant contract of USD$106,604 to support the construction of Buruku Adventist primary school in Western Province.

Speaking during the signing ceremony on Thursday, Ambassador of Japanese Embassy to Solomon Islands HE Higuchi Keiichi said the grant will provide access to proper educational environment for students and staffs.

“Supporting young people in Solomon Islands is a priority for me, education plays an essential key role in the development of societies. Education gives a great deal of support and encouragement to everyone,” he said.

He said since Solomon Islands has a high proportion of young people, the embassy believes that by supporting this, it will also develop the country’s socio-economic sector while strengthening its bilateral ties with Japan.

Community representative, Patrick Masakolo expressed gratitude to the Japanese embassy for their support, saying it will have a lasting impact in the lives of the Buruku children.  

Over the years, the primary school has become a safe haven for the community during cyclone seasons, however over the years its condition has deteriorated.

“The worse fate of our school was in 2007 when an earth quake struck Western province. Since its foundation has already been broken, though we collaborated to maintaining it, it did not work,” Masakolo said.

Even so, with a visionary mind and an aspiration of the leaders to build new classrooms they continue to pursue it.

“In 2023, under the leadership of Maclean Jilini as the school principal, we put forth a initiative to seek funding from the Embassy of Japan because we believe it offers good prospects,” he said. 

The committee pledge to honour the gift by fostering excellence, nurturing citizens and ensuring that the project becomes a well spring of knowledge and innovation for years to come.

Photo: Supplied

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