The IsDB has participated in building modern science facilities for Darul Uloom Boys School to enhance the level of education quality in sciences, enabling the school to both meet the Ministry of Education standards and augment the ability of the students in that field. In partnership with the IsDB, this project was successfully completed in August 2020.

The Science Lab Building consists of three levels/floors with a dimension of 150’ x 30’ (46x9.14 meters). The ground floor has an auditorium / assembly hall, examination hall, lecture hall, convention hall and hosts audio/visual events. It is fitted with AC, washroom facilities and movable partitions enable its separation into smaller functional areas. The first floor accommodates five large classrooms and washroom facilities. The second floor is used primarily for computer and science labs, providing two computer labs with a capacity of 60 students. Additionally, it accommodates a large science lab, catering for a further 60 students, equipped with apparatuses for biology, chemistry and physics along with adequate storage and prep rooms. The labs can also be separated with the use of movable partitions, and the entire building is compliant with the necessary safety requirements inclusive of signage, fire hose, fire alarms, fire extinguishers and emergency lighting, meeting all the legal requirements.

The Darul Uloom Trinidad and Tobago (DUTT) is a non-profit charitable organization, established in 1984 with a focused vision; firstly, to provide quality Islamic and Academic educational and social services to the Muslim community, secondly, to provide integration between Islamic education and academic studies, especially for Muslims, locally and regionally. The organisation has a Boys College, a Girls College, and is registered with both the Ministry of Education for its secondary programs and with the Accreditation Council of T&T (ACTT) for its tertiary level programs. The Institution has maintained an excellent success rate in its secondary program: 96-100 % in all ‘O’ Level subjects for both boys and girls. It is also the first of its kind to provide accredited post-secondary and tertiary level programs at the Graduate / Post-graduate level in the Caribbean region.

The DUTT embraced the challenge of providing sufficient facilities for academic programs requiring labs, such as IT and the major sciences. The previous science lab could not cater for the other associated sciences – Chemistry and Physics, and students had to take turns to participate. Lab capacity was initially only around 15 students for computer/IT and around 10 students for Biology.

With the welfare of staff, students, stakeholders, and general community development the motivation, IsDB’s assistance has resulted in a purpose-built facility for Computer/IT and Sciences, provisions for printing and publishing, a media centre, Halaal testing facilities and a general hall. The lab capacity was improved upon exponentially.

Impact / Results of the Project (Direct and Indirect)

Direct

• Fulfilling the Ministry of Education (MOE) requirements for Labs: The new science labs have been designed to meet all the stipulations for Biology, Chemistry and Physics as guided and recommended by the MOE, staying compliant with the secondary curriculum of studies. Students are now afforded the opportunity to choose the subjects of their interest, either business or science subjects in meeting their career goals. They are now able to choose additional academic subjects such as Chemistry and Physics which were not offered prior to the Lab project.
• Safety: The lab provides greater safety for stakeholders because of updated equipment and more space.
• Hall facilities: The ground floor is also used as a multipurpose hall, for general assemblies, auditorium functions, lectures, multimedia presentation, workshops & training, as well as a main use as an exam hall.
• Printing and publishing: The building has accommodation for printing and publishing. The reach of such is more than 60,000 annually.

Indirect

• The building adds to the modern and contemporary design and look of the Institution and adds value to the entire community.
• Capacity to cater for more students. The space allotment for the various functions of the Institution caters for growth.
• Media centre: This facility caters for the function of servers, webpage, data base, on-line systems, etc. The impact of having an efficient system goes beyond the shores of Trinidad and thousands of people, locally, regionally and internationally will benefit from contents and information.
• Public lectures and conferences: The hall caters for public classes and lectures and can accommodate about 300 people.
• Investing in the children’s’ future: The Boys’ College did not offer Chemistry and Physics in the past to students because of the lack of infrastructure and space. With the new labs, these subjects can be offered providing an avenue for further studies requiring such subjects.
• With the functionality of the Lab, there is an increase in employment for others such as janitors and technicians.
• The IsDB Assisted Lab Project is an achievement, not only for the school, but for the Muslim community in general who contributed to the overall educational development and benefits of students. Its impact is far-reaching.