It is a tight fit for students at the Philadelphia Primary School. A crumbling foundation has forced the six classes housed in the bottom flat to relocate to the upper floor of the two-storey building.
Rather than have them crammed in tiny classrooms, separated only by blackboards, many parents have opted to keep their children at home. Regional officials have not said anything much to them about their plight, protesting parents said at the East Bank Essequibo School in Vergenoegen yesterday.
Parents now demand a new school. The PNCR’s Region Three Member of Parliament Mervyn Williams told them that he had spoken to Minister of Education Shaik Baksh and the minister said $8 million has been budgeted for repairs to the school. But the parents noted that time and again, the school has been “patched” with minimal but improvement. And, they also said, the church wants back the land on which the school is sited.
The parents fear for the safety and well-being of their children. They pointed to the crumbling posts that support the school and also the mysterious piles of sand that appear from underneath the floor daily. “We will continue protest until we get justice,” shouted one parent. They believe that snakes have nested under the floor, since the watchman has reported killing many. They also believe that it is the snakes that are responsible for pushing up the sand from under the floor via several holes.
One woman said that about eight years ago, they were promised a new school. And also in 2006, the then Region Three Chairman Esau Dookie had said a new school would be built, Williams recalled. He said that because of the parents’ protests over the past several days, the government has responded and said that repairs will be done. But he questioned why they had to undertake the action before the government acts.
The parents said they want the repairs to be done as soon as possible, while noting that the Grades Two, Four and Six students have upcoming national exams. “We would accept the repairs but we need a new school,” one parent said. They said a regional official had suggested that their children be sent to the Vergenoegen Community High School but pointed out “that is a hog pen at the back there.” According to the parents, regional officials have paid scant attention to their cries. “They deh in their nice, fancy office, in the nice, fancy Prado and they ain’t care about the children dem,” said one woman.
They recommended “the old courtyard” in Vergenoegen as the site for a new school.
In the past several days, the parents have protested and some kept their children from school. Three hundred and twenty-seven students attend the school, which was opened in 1887. When the gates were locked yesterday, some teachers reported to the Ministry of Education and only about three were left to supervise the over 100 students who turned up.
The parents also pointed to loosening walls and a loose stair rail as hazards. A sanitary block, constructed about two years ago is locked and has never been used since there is no running water to flush the toilets, they said. The students use pit latrines instead.
