– students start half-day classes at Richard Ishmael today
Queen’s College (QC) students will from today attend classes at Richard Ishmael Secondary School from 12:30 hrs to 16:30 hrs as the Ministry of Education continues its efforts to end a flea infestation at the country’s top public secondary school.
Irate parents of QC students made their displeasure known yesterday at a meeting the ministry held at Richard Ishmael School yesterday to address the issue. Parents were upset that the infestation had not been dealt with properly earlier.
One vocal parent accused the ministry of allowing the situation to get out of control. She said that the infestation could have been prevented if the school had a clean environment, pointing out that several flea-infested stray dogs and cats were allowed to roam the QC compound, exposing students. She said that this situation had been ongoing for quite a while.
Another parent highlighted the fact that the school lacked proper garbage disposal and this unsanitary state of affairs had no doubt compounded the problem.
Parents were also irritated that were they not updated about the issue, noting that no efforts were made to inform them about the disruption of classes and the possible threat to their children’s health.
Chief Education Officer Olato Sam appealed to the bothered parents, stating that the ministry was doing everything in its power to make sure that “their [the students] lives are not affected too much”. He added that the ministry was absolutely confident that the issue was being addressed and students would not return to QC until the ministry was wholly convinced that their health would not be endangered.
Acting Head Teacher of QC Lenise Parker claimed that the infestation resulted from the papers locked away in the attic. She said that when the fleas were first discovered, the school quickly contacted Rentokil to fumigate the area. However, the entire school was not fumigated and the students were once more exposed to fleas when they returned to school on November 21.
Parents at the meeting were further irritated when Sam refused to answer their questions concerning if the necessary facilities, including laboratories, would be available for QC students at Richard Ishmael.
Sam responded, “what they got now is better than nothing at all”. He reiterated that the ministry was working to resolve the situation before the end of the week and would make arrangements to make up for the time lost. He said additional hours would be added to the next school term in order to do so. The ministry anticipates that the flea infestation at QC will be resolved in four days.
Meanwhile, according to a Ministry of Education press release, students and teachers of Richard Ishmael Secondary will attend school from 07:30 hrs to 12:15 hrs beginning today, while QC will use the school building from 12:30 hrs to 14:30 hrs. This arrangement will continue for the rest of this week, the release said adding that the ministry will continue to monitor the situation.
