Parents of students attending Couva West Secondary School have shut it down indefinitely. For the second time yesterday, the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) staged a protest outside the school at Balisier Avenue, Couva. However, this time, the 200-plus parents said they had had enough and promised that the school would remain shut until Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh met with them to find a solution to the myriad of health and safety problems.
The National Parent Teachers Association regional president for Caroni, Esther Cruickshank-Jerome, said the situation was now overbearing, as for the past year they had been contending with a faulty air-condition unit, leaking roof, unsafe ceilings, unsuitable bathroom conditions and absence of taps except in the washrooms.
Cruickshank-Jerome said it was unfair to ask students or teachers to occupy the unsafe classrooms. She said on a daily basis parents had to leave their jobs or personal tasks to return to the school to collect their unsupervised children. “The ceiling is falling down, the science block is in a mess. I walked through the school this morning, and I can’t stay there for another minute, so you cannot expect teachers to sit down in a class like that to teach children.
“Parents have had enough. The school will be shut down, indefinitely, until we get an audience with the Minister of Education,” Cruickshank-Jerome said. Frustrated with the continued closure and early dismissal of students since the start of the new school term, a group of about 30 parents, on Monday, publicly aired their concerns outside the school. They insisted that classes had not resumed as stated by the Education Ministry last Friday.
“Since school started there has been no school. I want to know why,” angry parent Vincent Boyce asked. “Other than the excuses they are giving us that a water line for the air flow system for the air condition is broken, why it is this is not being repaired?” Boyce, the father of a Form Two student, said since his daughter began attending that school in 2013, it had been closed on and off for a number of different reasons.
“At one point in time it was the asbestos or fibreglass in the system. That was repaired. Another time it was a gas leak, which was repaired. Then some of the teachers started complaining that it was too cold.”
Ministry responds
The Ministry of Education said Chief Education Officer Harrilal Seecharam, accompanied by officials from the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL) and the Caroni Education District, visited the school yesterday to assess the situation. The meeting included members of the local school board, the NPTA and members of the PTA.
It was decided that EFCL and Energy Dynamics Ltd (EDL) would work together to find short- and long-term solutions. EFCL and EDL will examine the extent of the problem and advise what temporary cooling systems could be put in place. In the interim, on Monday, students of Forms Four and Five will continue to attend school for half a day on a daily basis until the repairs are done.
Forms One to Three students will be kept at home and will be further advised by the ministry.