Teachers and students of the Bladen Hall Multilateral School on Wednesday managed to contain a blaze believed to have been set by two students who were earlier suspended for using cell phones during class hours.
The two fourth formers were yesterday questioned by the police and the school’s administration has launched an investigation and subsequently a report would be sent to the Ministry of Education. Stabroek News understands that fire officials, the police and education officials were at the school yesterday morning.
Repeated efforts to get a comment from education officials on the incident were futile.
This newspaper understands that shortly before 11:30 am vendors operating at the East Coast Demerara school noticed smoke coming from the eastern side of the bottom flat. Teachers were alerted and with the help of students the fire was put out with a bucket of water. A part of a wall and the floor were scorched.
A source said that from all appearances gasoline and a pointer broom were used to start the blaze. A Chubby drink bottle containing some of the flammable liquid was found outside and a burnt pointer broom was lying near the scorched wall, the source said.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that the fire was set in the office of a teacher who was instrumental in getting the students suspended.
The teacher had according to reports caught the students using the instruments during class. The Ministry of Education had adopted a principle that students found using cell phones during class hours should be suspended.
The two students who were implicated in the incident were suspended for three days during the latter part of last week, the source said. The source in expressing concern over the incident said that the damage could have been substantial had the fire not been detected early. At the time of the incident, students were at lunch.
