The government spent $5.4 million during the summer of 2025 carrying out repairs and upgrades at almost every school in Antigua , with a new round of major infrastructure works planned for 2026 at four institutions, Education Minister Daryll Matthew said during the Budget Debate.

Matthew told Parliament that the work was carried out “quietly over the summer” , noting that many schools received improvements without public attention.

“Over the summer, the Board of Education did work to almost every school in Antigua, to the value of $5.4 million, in three months,” he said.

The minister said students returned to schools that had received upgrades including new classrooms, improved bathroom facilities, refurbished spaces and new furniture.

“Students show up to school and there’s a new classroom block. Students show up to school, there’s a new toilet facility,” Matthew said.

He announced that major upgrades are planned for 2026 through collaboration with the Caribbean Development Bank , identifying Antigua Girls’ High School, All Saints Secondary School, Sir Novelle Richards Academy and Golden Grove Primary School as the next institutions targeted.

Referring to Golden Grove Primary, Matthew described it as “the most overcrowded primary school in Antigua and Barbuda.”

According to the minister, the upcoming phase of work will include the construction and refurbishment of classrooms , along with upgrades to information technology laboratories, home economics labs and bathroom facilities.

Matthew said the focus of the infrastructure programme is to improve learning conditions while addressing long-standing capacity and facility challenges across the education system.