The Regional Education Officer (REdO) has promised to address the issues at the Mocha Arcadia Nursery School, where teaching has resumed after parents forced its temporary closure due to the deplorable conditions.
On Monday, parents, guardians and residents staged a protest outside the school, which is located on New Settlers Street, Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara, to ask for a new school for the community. They had complained about the current facility’s unstable structure, deplorable washrooms, and flood prone yard that would be infested with mosquitoes and snakes. The parents had declared that they would not allow their children to attend the unsanitary school unless their complaints were addressed and they got adequate answers.
Stabroek News was told that REdO Jennifer Bourne visited the school on Tuesday and promised to address the issues that can be addressed. “Well there was a meeting and the parents were able to lay down their issues that they had with the school and the REdO said she will address the issues that can be dealt with immediately and a long term plan for the school will be looked at,” a source said.
A parent told this newspaper that while nothing has happened as yet, she is happy that the protest has brought the issues to the attention of the authorities. “Well, is now they got to do. Nobody can’t say they ain’t know this and they ain’t know that because the REdO come, see and hear we concern, so now is time to act,” the parent stated, while adding that although she is still lobbying for a new school, proper repairs to the school would be accepted.
“Well obviously we can’t expect everything [to] happen in one day but they know what’s going on so is time they take some action before something is to happen, because it serious, serious,” she added.
Meanwhile, the newly-elected chairman of the Mocha Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) Rudolph Adams said that he was not aware of the complaints from the parents about the conditions of the school. “I think we had a misconception with the protests because the thing about it is that nobody from the concerned parents made a report to the NDC. We are aware of some repairs that was needed to the school but we are already taking steps with that,” he said.
“We are encouraging persons to come forward with issues within the community and we are actually surprised the information was not drawn to our attention and actually reached the stage of protest,” Adams added, while noting that the NDC has been following the issue up with the Ministry of Education and it shares the sentiments of the parents. “We would support the new school but then again we understand budgetary allocations that were passed and things don’t happen like that. While we would lobby for a new school we can work with new repairs and some short hand issues if they are addressed in a timely manner,” he said.
