Philippine School’s 100mn expansion to takeoff soon

PSD principal Alexander Acosta announced bidding is open for the construction of the PSD building at Abu Hamour. PICTURE: Rannie TanchicoBy Joey Aguilar/Staff ReporterThe Philippine School of Doha (PSD) is to have its own building, which will be built at a cost of QR100mn in Abu Hamour within two years.Bidding process for the constructing the purpose-built educational facility was started on 12th of this month after the project got the final approval from the General Directorate of Civil Defence (GDCD) recently.PSD principal Alexander Acosta told Gulf Times that the project cost, including facilities such as laboratories and a gymnasium, could reach about QR100mn.He said it would take one to two years to finish the building on a 14,375 sqm plot donated by the Qatar government in Abu Hamour.Philippine Ambassador Crescente Relacion hopes to see the bid awarded and the bank loan to finance the construction secured before he leaves the country next month.Acosta thanked the ambassador for contributing a lot “to realise the project.” He also thanked parents of students who fully supported the initiative.The Parents-Teachers Association has spearheaded a fund-raising campaign to help finance the building’s construction.“We are banking on the support of the parents and we are really thankful for those who believed in PSD,” said Acosta.Now 2,800 students are housed in the 4,000 sqm campus in Madinat Khalifa.  The new building will be able to accommodate more than 4,000 pupils. It is also planned to hire more teachers and non-teaching staff from the Philippines. Acosta cited some “minor changes” in the design to meet specifications of the GDCD, making the number of classrooms less than the originally planned 200.However, he pointed out that the building would still accommodate more than 4,000 students.Some of its facilities would include laboratories for chemistry, physics and biology and computer lab. The design also provides for a library, swimming pool and a gymnasium/auditorium that can accommodate 4,000 people.The gymnasium will be used as a multi-purpose hall for basketball, volleyball, table tennis, badminton etc.PSD hosts a number of activities and events such as the annual Association of South East Asian Nations founding anniversary celebration. It also serves as the venue for professional licensure examinations.Many Filipinos who have bachelor’s degree in engineering, architecture, education, accountancy, nursing and other medical courses take their board exams in Doha.Frank Jamandre, chairman of the United Filipino Organisations in Qatar, told Gulf Times that the new development was a good news to many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Qatar who were mulling enrolling their children at PSD in the next few years.“At least we now have a starting point to meet the goal of building a dream school for OFWs’ children,” he said.PSD started operating in Doha in 1992 with 33 students and three teachers. Acosta took over as principal in 2002 when the school had more than 400 students.