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Saint John's College, one of Belize City's prestigious secondary and tertiary schools, is getting ready to build a brand new science building.

Administrators say that the popularity of its science programs has caused the enrollment of students to outgrow its teaching facilities designated for the different science disciplines. 

So, they are hoping that by next year, their brand new, 5-million dollar building will be ready for use for the class of 2021. The SJC President invited the press for the building's groundbreaking ceremony this morning, and 7News attended. According to the president, the building will also house the first-ever robotics laboratory in Belize. 

Here's what she had to say about the hopes that SJC will surge ahead in its ability to educate its students in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics:

Mirtha Peralta - President, SJC
"This institution has existed since 1887. So, this year marks our 133rd anniversary. We have - the junior college - has been 1952, and since the inception, we have been giving science programs. And so, after so many years, we find it to be very important to be able to give our students a modern facility and current programs for them to be well-educated. Our enrolment has increased over the past 10 years, and in the past 5 years, it has exceeded and surpassed the number of what used to be our largest program, the business administration program. So, it's extremely necessary that we have a facility that is going to accommodate more students. The facility is scheduled to commence in the next 3 or 4 weeks."

Hon. Julius Espat - Architect, Strukture Architects
"This that you're seeing here is not the finished product. It is phase 1 of 3. The second phase will include an auditorium to hold about maybe 300-500 people. And then, there's another wing of classrooms that can be added on. And attached to that, we designed the structure so that it can withstand 3 floors. So what you're seeing here is only phase 1, and phase one has - as the President was saying - it is environmental science labs, biology science lab, chemistry: inorganic and organic, physics, mathematics, and a new program that they're implementing, which is robotics, which is exciting for the young people of Belize."

Mirtha Peralta
"We're hoping that we're going to be able to open the facility for the class of 2021. The cost of the building is estimated at 5 million dollars. It's going to have 6-7 different labs. It's going to have the first-ever robots lab in this country, I'm sure, and also a mathematics laboratory. We are also hoping that our alumni out there, who are looking at this will contact us and will want to be a part of the development here."

According to the President, the school is hoping that the members of the SJC alumni community will be willing to assist them in making this new science building a reality.