Fire of unknown origin this morning destroyed part of the Parfait Harmonie Primary School, West Demerara affecting the more than eighty students who were in the process of writing the Grade Six Mathematics assessment paper.
Chief Education Officer Olato Sam was on the scene of the fire when this newspaper arrived and he said that all of the children were accounted for and are safe. He assured the concerned parents that their children will take the assessment at the beginning of the new school term.
The fire began just before 11am according to Cadet Officer Persaud of the Guyana Fire Service who also said that one of the students observed smoke coming from a section of the school.
Not only the primary school students will be affected but also the more than 100 nursery school students who were housed there as their building is being constructed.
The interior of the section of the school that housed the nursery school students, the school’s library, the office of the primary school headmistress and a kitchen were totally destroyed.
The shaken headmistress of the primary school, Shundell Chichester told this newspaper that she was at clinic when she got the dreadful news. Her only concern now is what plans would be effected to accommodate the students for the new school term. The classrooms of the school were untouched by the fire.
