Pupils at the Sisters Village Nursery School at Goed Intent, West Bank Demerara were forced to return home yesterday after major leaks in the roof forced the suspension of classes.
Parents said the roof has been leaking for the past three years, but yesterday was the first time pupils were sent home as the entire school leaked and it was “overbearing”. Up to mid-day yesterday, no official from the Ministry of Education had visited the school even though this newspaper was told that regional officials had been notified. Efforts by this newspaper to contact Education Officer for Region Three, Marlyn Jones-O’Donaghue were futile. Another senior education official at Region Three said she did not deal with such matters and this was the remit of Jones-O’Donaghue.
One hundred and twenty-five pupils attend the school. Several parents, who did not want their names published, said at the school yesterday that the roof has leaked for the past three years. “This is a dry-weather school,” one parent said. She explained that numerous complaints were made to the education authorities and some officials visited but only in the dry weather when the leaks were not apparent. Nothing was ever done to repair the leaking roof, the parents said.
Yesterday’s suspension of classes followed heavy rain throughout Wednesday night and into yesterday morning. A sign: ‘No School. Classrooms are wet’, greeted pupils who turned up. Basins and tubs were placed at points where the leaks were heaviest but water still dripped at several areas. Parents present there during this newspaper’s visit pointed to where scotch tape and plastic were used in an attempt to prevent water from entering the school. They also pointed to where the wall appeared to be rotting and expressed concern for the safety of their children.
“My son come and he had to go back,” said one parent as she explained that her son learned better among his peers.
The parents said that the school was over 20 years old. They also expressed concern about the state of the schoolyard and the fence, sections of which are falling apart. Some of the parents called for immediate repairs while others called for a new school.
When contacted, Region Three Chairman Julius Faerber said he was not aware of the situation at the school.
The school is the second in Region Three to experience problems in recent times. Over the past two weeks, parents at the Philadelphia Primary School at Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo protested the state of the crumbling school.
However, repairs have started at the Philadelphia school, Faerber said. This was confirmed by parents who said repairs started yesterday. However, they expressed dissatisfaction saying that the floor was being resurfaced but they were told by Regional Vice-Chairman Manpersaud that he did not see a problem with the crumbing support posts. The crumbling posts have forced the six classes housed in the bottom flat to relocate to the upper floor of the two-storey building.
The parents said they were told that the repairs would take two weeks to finish. They expressed concern about the children who would still be housed there during this period noting that the cement dust would affect them. Up to yesterday, the majority of the students had not turned up for classes.
“They seh we can’t get a new school now,” one parent said.
